Blackout record!!!

[Ken]

As bad as it is in the "upscale" areas, it is much worse in the poorer areas. Our cleaning woman lives in Union, a large residential area near the Puerto Plata airport. She told me yesterday that they had had no electricity for a week, and that because there was no electricity, there was no water. The pumps can't run without electricity.

I was in Santo Domingo for a few days at beginning of week. The majority of the stop lights weren't working. It was my impression that drivers were more helpful to each other than I have ever observed before. I saw more waving other drivers to go through the intersection than I've ever seen.

 

[santanatwins]

Hey AZB

Just wanted to know if what my wife tells me is true....the light in El Paraiso has been going 3 hours on 21 hours off?

If that's the case then I better buy 4 more batteries for my inverter before the others lose their charge. I don't think 3 hours is gonna charge them fully even with my wife being very observent of turning off lights not in use.

 

[MotorCity Mike]

Any talk of these blackouts coming to an end???

 

[Conchman]

Its gonna get worse before it gets better, Hippocrito is gonna make sure all diesel and funds run out right around August 15th, so that he can leave Leonel with as big a mess as he can. He's gonna punish the public for voting him out, he doesnt give a chit about the people, he's a selfish swine.

 

[Oche]

Exactly

 

[MotorCity Mike]

I'll be there in 11 days and am concerned about the food supply. Are the small restaurants taking precautions against spoiled food?

 

[jcrue20]

blackout record!!!

i guess, the dominican people will start to pay their electricity bills honestly.i guess BLACKOUTS in the dominican republic is considered as BAD KARMA mainly because of mass stealing of electricity by DOMINICAN CHUPO PEOPLE. im pissed off because of no electricity.

 

[Lambada]

You certainly see colmados throwing out spoiled food (which then gets retrieved by someone else!). All I can say about restaurants, is the last few times I have eaten out, I have NOT got sick afterwards. But this only goes for where I've eaten, of course.

 

[ustelephone]

It's amazing. I go to the barrio where my wife's family lives and see people re-connecting their own electric every day. There are multiple-colored wires running everywhere. I even saw a guy get electrocuted and fall to his death while doing it last year.

Here where I live in Gascuez, if you pay your bill ONE DAY late, they cut your light, without notice or even knocking on the door. To re-connect you have to go to the light company in person and pay. The treatment of foreigner?s there is unbelievable. This month's bill was 3K pesos, last month's was12K pesos, for a one-bedroom apartment! When I complained, the lady said, "Why are you complaining, you pay more than 12K pesos just for an airplane ticket??.

If you ask me, it's the upper & middle class, and the business owners, that are getting screwed the most. If you're poor, you just run a cable and you have free light. As far as just the poor sectors loosing light, that's a load of crap.

It's common knowledge here that almost everyone in the barrios is stealing light, at least here in SD. Considering how many people this accounts for, I'd say they are the problem, and their sectors SHOULD be the first ones cut. If I am paying my bill, and so is everyone on my block, we SHOULD get special treatment. What to do about the crooks, well fining them isn't going to work. I say lock them up and make them ride exercise bikes with generators 10 hours per day, image how much juice that would produce.

 

[Danny W]

I always thought that the government's tacit allowing of the poor to steal electricity was an attempt to surpress the urge to riot and overthrow the government. It seems like with TV, music and cold beer the masses are a pretty complacent bunch. - D

 

[ustelephone]

You may be on to something there.

 

[Rocky]

More power...

Sunday, we got 18 1/2 hours of power. I finally got to see the green light on my inverter, showing a full charge on my batteries.
Yippeeeeeee !

 

[santanatwins]

Not my batteries

Well, it turns out that it wasn't that my batteries ran out, it was my new inverter. Good thing the inverter is still under warranty, so I had my wife call the place we bought it at and they had the elecetrician come over and repair it. But as luck would have it, by the time we got it repair the batteries only got two hours of charge before the lights went out.

Can't we catch a break......

 

[Rocky]

What brand?

Well, it turns out that it wasn't that my batteries ran out, it was my new inverter. Good thing the inverter is still under warranty, so I had my wife call the place we bought it at and they had the elecetrician come over and repair it. But as luck would have it, by the time we got it repair the batteries only got two hours of charge before the lights went out.

Can't we catch a break......

Sorry to hear about your plight. We're going crazy here as well, trying to keep our batteries fully charged.
What brand of inverter do you have?

 

[santanatwins]

Can't remember the name

I'm in Kuwait City right now so I can't remember the name. But my wife tells me that the repair fixed the problem. And with 7 hours of light.....miracles do happen......the batteries where able to recharge fully, so we're back in the light.

I posted a thread on this topic a few months back where I posted the name and the set up. If you just look for recent post about inverters it will have one that I started.

I'd still like the name of a small reliable generator I can buy to avoid this problem in the future, if anyone has any suggestions.

 

[mgonz8]

Invertor

My family and I are moving to Santiago in August and we were thinking about investing in an inverter , but what good is an inverter if you're not getting enough hours of power to charge it up? Or is the hope when Hipolito is gone the power will return?

 

[Tom F.]

That is why you need a generator or solar panels for a little back up. Reading the DR1 news summary about the electrical situation today made me laugh after following the electrical situation since 87. They do not collect 70-80%. It was 40% in 97 and only those who live there can tell us if people are really paying for what they use. It's a nonfunctional system which will never be fixed until you pay for what you consume. Then the problem comes with affording the cost of electricity. A very modest home will probably still consume 200 kw/hrs a month. At US$.14 kw/hr X 40-1 for the peso, that comes to RD$1,120/month. My numbers are low but I would still argue that many families who are connected to the grid cannot afford to pay their bill.

 

[Criss Colon]

My electric bill would be over 20,000 pesos a month,if........

I didn't have a "Special Switch"!!!!!!I have the meter in the line only about 4 or 5 days per month,and I stil pay about 3,000 pesos.I have a 3.6K Trace inverter,with 8 batteries,and a 20,000 kilo Detroit Diesel electric generator.Since there is very little street power these days,my "Gasoil" bill is about 10,000 pesos a month for the gererator! This place sucks,and if you read the DR1 daily news,you will know that is is going to get worse,before it gets better!!!
Thank God for the women!!!
Cris Colon :bunny: :bunny: :bunny: :bunny: :bunny:

 

[mgonz8]

Inverters

Tom,
It would be great if my family and I purchased a generator, however, unfortunately we don't have those kind of funds available to us-we will be in Santiago doing missions work fo at least 2 years- I will be receiving an income and the rest of our monthly needs supplemented by support from our friends, church and family in the states. It has been recommended to us to purchase an inverter to at least run the essential appliances like our frig and fans. I am trying to price the inverters and the lowest I am finding is in the neighborhood of $950-$1000 US for a 8 battery 3600 watt model. Is that about the cheapest you can find or are there better deals? Nevertheless, we are looking forward to living and serving in the DR despite the inconveniences of lack of power- we know someway, somehow God will all work it out!

 

[chuckuindy]

I didn't have a "Special Switch"!!!!!!I have the meter in the line only about 4 or 5 days per month,and I stil pay about 3,000 pesos.I have a 3.6K Trace inverter,with 8 batteries,and a 20,000 kilo Detroit Diesel electric generator.Since there is very little street power these days,my "Gasoil" bill is about 10,000 pesos a month for the gererator! This place sucks,and if you read the DR1 daily news,you will know that is is going to get worse,before it gets better!!!
Thank God for the women!!!
Cris Colon :bunny: :bunny: :bunny: :bunny: :bunny:

What an ugly photo this conjured up. Scores of half naked young and beautiful Dominican women fanning CC with palm branches.