Electricity problems

Juniper

New member
Apr 15, 2004
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Presidents come and presidents go and no one seems to do anything about the problem of electricity in the country. This has been going on since right after the Trujillo era.

I know the excuse is that the city in Santo Domingo grew too fast and the power plant was not able to supply the entire city. But the country has had this problem over thirty years. Why is it that there is no improvement, ever?

Does anyone know the real answer? I realize that this is a lot more complicated than meets the eye, but enough already! I don't know how the Dominicans can continue to live like this.
 

jojo2130

New member
May 30, 2005
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Realistically?

1981 - 6,000,000 People using Average 550 KW/H PP Per Year = 3,300,000,000 KW/hrs

2006 - 9,000,000 people Using Average 1350 KW/Hr PP Per Year = 12,150,000,000 KW/Hrs

With only 50% Collection rate for Electricity Disbursed.

$30,000,000 Per Month worth of Power sent down the lines and $15,000,000 Per Month Collected. In any business I have owned I wouldnt have alot of room for expansion with those #'s !

Until Everyone pays it won,t Improve, it will only get worse. I went the other way. I just started a company to sell things to make my batteries last longer. Better prospect than investing in the Utilitie comnpanies !

Thats what i see as the long and short of it.
 

georgios

New member
Oct 2, 2004
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Juniper said:
Presidents come and presidents go and no one seems to do anything about the problem of electricity in the country. This has been going on since right after the Trujillo era.

I know the excuse is that the city in Santo Domingo grew too fast and the power plant was not able to supply the entire city. But the country has had this problem over thirty years. Why is it that there is no improvement, ever?

Does anyone know the real answer? I realize that this is a lot more complicated than meets the eye, but enough already! I don't know how the Dominicans can continue to live like this.

Here is the problems relating to the electrical supply of the DR:

1. Power production
The existing power plants are undersized & aged (nearly obsolete)
2. Grid lines
Terrible condition, losses estimated at 33%.
3. Bill collection
Poor. The vast majority of the population unable to afford the service.
4. Power theft
Widely practiced, utilities unable to control.
5. Budget funds allocated to modernize the system
None. Partial payments made but only for fuel.

The cost to upgrade existing generating stations, install new power
plants, replace approx 65% of grid lines & substations is into the
billions. Even if the funding is found, the timeframe to perform all of
the above is 10 years, at best.

This is the reality.

Georgios.
 

Conchman

Silver
Jul 3, 2002
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And don't forget about the political interference, politicians promise free electricity in the poor neighborhoods in order to get elected, then when they do get elected they have to screw the utility company or raise prices on the people that do pay.
 

GringoCArlos

Retired Ussername
Jan 9, 2002
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I thank God every day for the electricity problems here. It's one of the few things that keeps this place from getting overrun with people I really don't want to be around on a daily basis. :)
 

georgios

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Oct 2, 2004
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Conchman said:
And don't forget about the political interference, politicians promise free electricity in the poor neighborhoods in order to get elected, then when they do get elected they have to screw the utility company or raise prices on the people that do pay.

I agree 100% with Conchman, this is the heart of the problem.
It's up to them to fix the infrastructure of this country, starting
with the electricity supply.

The people that do pay their electric bills are always targeted. In fact,
all the good paying consumers are also forced to maintain some sort of
a battery-inverter back-up system to cope with blackouts. In addition,
some of them resort into renewable energy to supplement the utility.

The government rewards all those good paying people with a 33% total
taxation on all renewable energy equipment !!!!!! Who is the Government?
The same politicians Conchman just mentioned...

It's a no win situation. Under the Kyoto protocol, all renewable energy
equipment are free from any kind of aduanas, duties or tarriffs, EC commision
at the time of import. THE KYOTO PROTOCOL WAS SIGNED BY THE DR 4
YEARS AGO. Perhaps someone should remind Mr Miguel Coco..

Georgios.
 

gringito

New member
Feb 21, 2005
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The Real Problem?

Simple math:

the base demand of the DR today is 1,200 MWs during the slowest demand time of the day. That means at 2:00 AM the country is consuming 1,200 MWs. There are 8,760 hours in a year. So, for every cent that a kwhr costs, equals U.S. $105,120,000 (8760 X 1000 X 1200 X $.01). If the generators in the DR are being paid 8 cents per kwhr at a minimum today, do the math and get your answer. A lot of people in the government have been making a lot of money in the electricity sector for many years. A lot of money. The politicians don't want to change something that makes them so much money when it is something normal people don't understand and don't think about.

Regards
 

Snuffy

Bronze
May 3, 2002
1,462
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Last few days here in Santiago...no electricity for many hours....similar to the Hipolito days. Is this a sign of what to expect during the summer? That would suck.
 

georgios

New member
Oct 2, 2004
201
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gringito said:
Simple math:

the base demand of the DR today is 1,200 MWs during the slowest demand time of the day. That means at 2:00 AM the country is consuming 1,200 MWs. There are 8,760 hours in a year. So, for every cent that a kwhr costs, equals U.S. $105,120,000 (8760 X 1000 X 1200 X $.01). If the generators in the DR are being paid 8 cents per kwhr at a minimum today, do the math and get your answer. A lot of people in the government have been making a lot of money in the electricity sector for many years. A lot of money. The politicians don't want to change something that makes them so much money when it is something normal people don't understand and don't think about.

Regards

You are "right on the money" there my friend, couldn't agree more..
Apart from all these monies made, their greed goes even further by
taxing the renewables... piling up more bucks into their bank accounts.
Who can control this situation? Who can step up and cut these guys off?
How many more years it's going to take? They have being talking about
deregulating the electricity production & distribution for years...It is obvious,
it's never gonna happen simply because they will loose all the money
coming in.

Georgios.