Chris,
Our assessments for this month and last are significantly higher than normal. The primary reason is the much higher cost of diesel and the significant increase in the number of hours the generator must run. As you know from reading DR1, the country has been experiencing blackouts of up to 20 hours a day. If you have a meter for your apartment, then you should be billed just for the kw hours your apartment uses plus your share of the common area electricity. But even that is likely to require an increase in assessment if our situation is any indication. If you don't have a meter for your apartment and electricity is part of the common expense, then the increase may be even higher depending on how the electricity use in your apartment compares with others. For example, if you don't have AC but other apartments do, then you are subsidizin their elecricity consumption at today's high prices.
Adding to the problem, as Eddy points out, is the falling dollar in relation to the peso. With the peso around 30 to 1, it takes a lot more dollars than it did when the peso was 35-40 to 1, or even higher.
What you are experiencing is the reality of living in the DR today for every condo, apartment and home owner.