PRA cutting illegal electrical connections -News on TV

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windeguy

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We were watching local north coast TV last night and there was a story on location in La Cienaga where a group called the PRA was cutting the illegal electrical connections in that area. The military was there and well armed. It certainly seemed that they were serious about stopping electricity theft.

Many of the residents were very upset and it appeared to be a volatile situation. Many residents that were cut off said they have been paying.

I had seen other postings that mentioned there would be fines and potential jail time for those that continue to steal electricity. Will they really prosecute those that continue stealing? Does anyone have more information in the PRA and how persistent they will be in keeping the electricity freeloaders from simply reconnecting?
 
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Chirimoya

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PRA is the Programa de Reducci?n de Apagones - the CDEEE's powercut reduction programme. Their site is under construction.
 
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DominicanBilly

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It's about time.

I remember once when I was living in Monuz (small place outside Puerto Plata). They came with dump truck and a military escort to cut down all the illegal connections. The truck went up the road to the end and cut down all the wiring.

The month before they came with bills for the residents and were told if they did not pay up they would be cut off. Most bills were in the amount of 20,000 or more pesos as an estimate for the past 4 years. Of course no one paid.

When they try to leave the residents had a blockade of tires and logs. They demanded the wires because the wiring belonged to them. "OK" the workers dumped the wiring on the road and left.

Of course the next day they used the wires to hook up all the old connections again. And as far as I know no one pays to this day.
 
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sweetdbt

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DominicanBilly said:
I remember once when I was living in Monuz (small place outside Puerto Plata). They came with dump truck and a military escort to cut down all the illegal connections. The truck went up the road to the end and cut down all the wiring.

The month before they came with bills for the residents and were told if they did not pay up they would be cut off. Most bills were in the amount of 20,000 or more pesos as an estimate for the past 4 years. Of course no one paid.

When they try to leave the residents had a blockade of tires and logs. They demanded the wires because the wiring belonged to them. "OK" the workers dumped the wiring on the road and left.

Of course the next day they used the wires to hook up all the old connections again. And as far as I know no one pays to this day.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure how much difference it would have made, but insisting on back payment doomed that to failure. I mean the idea that people in a poor rural area who have been stealing their power for years would actually have enough $ to pay their back bill is pretty ludicrus. There may have been some who would have agreed to start paying their current usage from that point forward if there were some promise of fewer apagones involved. Probably not many though.
 
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windeguy

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Interesting Electricity news on DR1 today

Great, now we will have to pay 12% more for power we don't get. A ridiculous situation getting more ridiculous.

Has anyone heard of the PRA cutting any illegal connections recently?
I imagine that initiative fell by the political wayside.

I was however happy to see comments spoken directly in front of Leonel by Jose Miguel Bonetti of Mercasid about how misguided it is to have a Metro while students have to study by candle light. I couldn't have said it better.
 
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mike l

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Water is also being cut in Sosua snd POP for non payment that has gone undetected for 3 years as I have witnessed.

But that's OK ...Hurricanes are on the way....could be weird season as reported in the current events

No electric but plenty of water
 
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windeguy

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No electric but plenty of water

"No electric but plenty of water"

Funny you should mention that. The water company seems to be the one constant here and we are very rarely without water. I am surprised to hear they are cutting off water to those that don't pay. Of course it is the correct thing to do.
 
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SteveS

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Apr 15, 2008
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I don't get this sometimes...

in January our bill was due 5th Jan (first monday of the new year) and xmas and new being as it was, we forgot until the new year rolled around, realised on the sunday night. Monday morning (5th, due date of the bill), at 830am, they disconnected the supply (unknown to us of course, we were working) and at the same time, we were calling to pay the bill...!!! Not even 1 phone call to say..."did you forget?", "do you want to pay now?", no much easier to send a guy to cut you off first day back after new year.


Millions get electricity for free.....we're a day late and we're cut off.......


if only they worked with the same venom when it came to the people who don't pay and have NEVER paid.....


We know what the con is though...there's a reconnection fee of several hundred pesos, which they know they'll get from us for coming back 2 hours later to put the power on again.


Oh, and I nearly forgot, they only turned one of the two phases on when they returned so we had no 220 supply for 48 hours.... (and hence no fridge, freezer, water heater, washer......)
 
MikeFisher

MikeFisher

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Steve's,
usually(i can only speak about our electricity provider here on the east coast, don't know the rules of other areas/providers) the line does not get disconnected when the bill isn't paid, it get's disconnected when the bill of the following month isn't paid on expiration day.
in dominican homes it is typical to ow 1 month, so the next month they let the expiration date pass/means they owe 2 monthly bills, and on that day early morning the power is down.
same for phone bills.
i pay phone/internet/electricity aso every month without a open bill of the prior month, so i don't have to worry about the payday deadline.

do other areas cut the power off right away?
Mike
 
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dv8

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hmm, yesterday in POP i saw a truck with military people. heavily armed with machine guns, kevlar vests, headsets - all the gear. maybe they were the escort for PRA?
 
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SteveS

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MikeFisher said:
Steve's,
usually(i can only speak about our electricity provider here on the east coast, don't know the rules of other areas/providers) the line does not get disconnected when the bill isn't paid, it get's disconnected when the bill of the following month isn't paid on expiration day.
in dominican homes it is typical to ow 1 month, so the next month they let the expiration date pass/means they owe 2 monthly bills, and on that day early morning the power is down.
same for phone bills.
i pay phone/internet/electricity aso every month without a open bill of the prior month, so i don't have to worry about the payday deadline.

do other areas cut the power off right away?
Mike
Click to expand...

Santo Domingo, yes. The day it comes due under Edesur.

Unless I'm just a target...!!!

All the other utilities are as you say, you have time. Never had a problem with anything else.
 
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windeguy

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PRA disbanded

A tiger with no teeth anyway, I see the PRA has been disbanded and its assets transferred to CDEEE. Just when I had some hope the government would take some positive action about the electricity situation.
 
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jrhartley

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I see one illegal connection most mornings , Im sure the person that comes to read the meters must also see it , but they couldnt careless as their job is only to read the meters lol
 
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wuarhat

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In Santo Domingo, Jardines del Norte, just north of where Dr. Defillo intersects Kennedy you've got until the due date to pay. They'll shut off our water and electricity within a couple of days of the bill coming due if it's not paid.
 
W

windeguy

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The same would happen to me...

wuarhat said:
In Santo Domingo, Jardines del Norte, just north of where Dr. Defillo intersects Kennedy you've got until the due date to pay. They'll shut off our water and electricity within a couple of days of the bill coming due if it's not paid.
Click to expand...

If I didn't pay my electricity bill (or water bill) my services would also be cut here on the North Coast within a few weeks. You and I are not part of the problem since we pay our bills. The problem is twofold from the customer side. There are some large businesses that I understand pay much less then their fair share. Also there are the thousands of people that hook up illegally as if electricity was a "right" that for which they do not need to pay.
I don't have to go far to see this.

The first group gets away with it because they can pay someone off. It has been said that the first group steals more power in total than the second group. The second group gets away with it either because of the large block of votes they can cast and the political unrest they can cause. Both are a symptom of a cultural dysfunction.
 
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