North Coast blackouts are back for Class A circuits

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windeguy

Guest
It's beginning to feel like the "good?" old days here on the north coast.
After a short year or so of finally being on a Class A 24/7 circuit, we started to have
frequent blackouts.

I complained this morning to Edenorte and received this response (as translated by Google)

Good morning dear customer, We are presenting a deficit of energy generation due to the output of the electrical system of several generating plants, which affects the service we offer to our customers. This has caused the interruption of the electric service in an unusual way in its concession area, which covers the 14 provinces of the Cibao. The interruptions generated by this deficit affect the 24-hour or class A circuits. Sorry for the inconvenience this may cause you.

So, we are back to the incompetence of the government run organization of Edenorte.
 
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franco1111

Guest
Si. But look at this:


September 4, 2019 | 8:51 am
Dominican Republic’s power companies meet the national demand

Santo Domingo.– Dominican Republic’s power companies grouped in ADIE on Wed. said the national electric grid currently has 2,970 megawatts available to meet all the demand of the electricity distribution companies.

Based on the grid’s performance in 2018, the ADIE revealed a surplus of available energy of 254 megawatts, if the country’s maximum demand is taken into account, which reached 2,700 megawatts.

According to the ADIE, these 2,970 megawatts correspond to the installed capacity of both thermal and renewable and hydroelectric plants, which are available and operating in the system."

https://dominicantoday.com/dr/econo...ics-power-companies-meet-the-national-demand/

Here in La Romana, it is the same. Frequent blackouts now early in the evening. Usually in our neighborhood it is predicatable, off at 5:30 am, back on at 8:30 am. Apparently rationing the supply. But, for the last week or two, evenings early. For example, last night and tonight it went off now. Que mal.

Must be a distribution problem. Hard to see as a joke sometimes. By the way, even though people don't want to hear this about paradise, they were throwing garbage in the streets and a few piedras again here in La Romana last week because of this. Fact.
 
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AlterEgo

Guest
computer translation:

Electric service collapses in most of the Dominican Republic

Date: September 4, 2019

SANTO DOMINGO.- The commercial, industrial and domestic activities of almost the entire Dominican Republic have been affected in recent days by prolonged blackouts over which the Dominican Corporation of State Electric Companies (CDEE) or the electricity distributors have offered no explanation.

Distributor sources said they are not receiving enough power from the generators.

On this issue, the Northern Electricity Distributor Company (EDENORTE) reported on Tuesday night the output of the electrical system of several generating plants, which affects the service it offers to its customers. He did not specify which are the latter.

He indicated that the energy generation deficit has caused the interruption of this service in an unusual way in its concession area, which covers the 14 provinces of Cibao.

He explained that, in a special way, the interruptions generated by said deficit affect the circuits 24 hours or class A.

The company asked its customers for excuses for the inconvenience this situation may cause.

https://almomento.net/edenorte-informa-limitacion-de-servicio-por-deficit-generacion-electrica/
 
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user123

Guest
It's funny that a country with 500 sunny days a year and the coast such is in the north where it's windy 24/7 has issues with producing electricity.
 
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franco1111

Guest
computer translation:

Electric service collapses in most of the Dominican Republic

Date: September 4, 2019

SANTO DOMINGO.- The commercial, industrial and domestic activities of almost the entire Dominican Republic have been affected in recent days by prolonged blackouts over which the Dominican Corporation of State Electric Companies (CDEE) or the electricity distributors have offered no explanation.

Distributor sources said they are not receiving enough power from the generators.

On this issue, the Northern Electricity Distributor Company (EDENORTE) reported on Tuesday night the output of the electrical system of several generating plants, which affects the service it offers to its customers. He did not specify which are the latter.

He indicated that the energy generation deficit has caused the interruption of this service in an unusual way in its concession area, which covers the 14 provinces of Cibao.

He explained that, in a special way, the interruptions generated by said deficit affect the circuits 24 hours or class A.

The company asked its customers for excuses for the inconvenience this situation may cause.

https://almomento.net/edenorte-informa-limitacion-de-servicio-por-deficit-generacion-electrica/

Ok. That explains what is happening. Very good. But, no explanation why. Typical.

One thought I had about their estimates of demand is that they do not have an accurate estimate because so many people are stealing electricity. They have no idea how much is used that way. And of course, the demand is greater when one is not paying for use. (An example, the salon where my assistant goes blasts a 30,000 btu air conditioner all day and the owner is quite proud of the fact she does not pay for it. She suggested we do the same at our house. : ).
 
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cobraboy

Guest
So the DR gubmint aren't paying the electric generators again?
 
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Cdn_Gringo

Guest
I just moved to a new neighborhood 3.5 months ago and I have already burned through a set of UPS batteries for my computers. Power goes out here all the time. Yesterday was scheduled maintenance day. Out for six hours. Out again tonight for about 4 hours.

No inverter in this rental property and I was hoping that I would be able to endure the occasional outage as a matter of course, but this everyday or every other day is wearing me down. I may have to give in and plunk down another couple grand which I really don't want to spend. These frequent long duration outages can't be good for battery life.
 
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windeguy

Guest
franco1111: On the north coast , we all got smart meters they can read from the office. They monitor the power coming into developments and barrios and add up all the power used on the smart meters. If they find a problem, they can act on it. They can if they want reduce the circuit from an A (24/7) to a B or C and cut power daily to those lower designations. This is the kind of stupidity you get when the government runs the power distribution system. They do know how much is paid for and how much is stolen.

There were more people in our "gringo" development stealing power back then than I would have guessed. They re-routed all the 220 wiring, installed new transformers and made it much harder to steal and not get caught. Neighbors that were caught had to pay for years worth of back power usage and a fine to get service again.

The current stupidity is just stupidity of another kind, but is expected from Edenorte and the EDE's in general after my 16 years of dealing with them.
 
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chico bill

Guest
franco1111: On the north coast , we all got smart meters they can read from the office. They monitor the power coming into developments and barrios and add up all the power used on the smart meters. If they find a problem, they can act on it. They can if they want reduce the circuit from an A (24/7) to a B or C and cut power daily to those lower designations. This is the kind of stupidity you get when the government runs the power distribution system. They do know how much is paid for and how much is stolen.

There were more people in our "gringo" development stealing power back then than I would have guessed. They re-routed all the 220 wiring, installed new transformers and made it much harder to steal and not get caught. Neighbors that were caught had to pay for years worth of back power usage and a fine to get service again.

The current stupidity is just stupidity of another kind, but is expected from Edenorte and the EDE's in general after my 16 years of dealing with them.

I think they will never even try to catch the scofflaws. They can see the illegal taps when they do a service or street light replacement - they just are either too lazy to disconnect them or it is old uncle Tito and it's a bendicion for him
 
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windeguy

Guest
I think they will never even try to catch the scofflaws. They can see the illegal taps when they do a service or street light replacement - they just are either too lazy to disconnect them or it is old uncle Tito and it's a bendicion for him

They had no problem doing it in our "gringo" development, but yes, I agree doing it in the barrio is another story.
 
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josh2203

Guest
It's funny that a country with 500 sunny days a year and the coast such is in the north where it's windy 24/7 has issues with producing electricity.

Very true. IMO, what you forget, is that (almost) nothing in the DR works in a logical manner. If it did, this would not be a 3rd world country. If every house had solar panels on the roof, or if the government would actually work like it's supposed to, there would not be a problem. But there is...

What I consider funny was the news that when the president of Edesur in Santo Domingo (or was it elsewhere, I cannot recall) was giving a speech during an anniversary of Edesur or something, the lights went out, they stayed out and nobody new immediately how to end the apagon... Imagine that happening elsewhere, the president would soon be unemployed... But I doubt that here...

We belong to one of the circuits near POP city center, meaning that we usually don't have apagones if the whole city of POP is not without luz, and recently that has been the case almost weekly... I consider leaving a whole city and a tourist destination without luz for several hours a major fluke and embarrassment on the part of Edenorte, but of course they don't even know that word...

I used to complain about this, but I don't anymore, just be prepared...
 
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windeguy

Guest
josh2203, Government employees are not ever embarrassed for not providing a service. That is at that root of the problem with a government run entity like Edenorte. Competence and business sense are frowned upon.

As for the solar panel discussion. Personal responsibility and your own money can provide some relief from the problem if you own a home and have the space to do so. But the vast majority of Dominicans do not have this personal option.

I have it on good word that "the powers that be" in the DR are actually considering large scale solar farms that ring the country. That helps during the day time, but where are all those huge batteries going to come from for the other 14 or so hours? Yes , solar is great, but only a part of what could make things better.

Privatizing the electrical distribution system would go a long way in improving the situation. Then people would pay or get arrested and cut off for stealing power. Sadly that is not going to happen any time soon.
 
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Cdn_Gringo

Guest
After Maria or Irma I don't remember which storm, a local gated community on an A circuit was without power for at least 3 days. Most people I assume accept the published weekly outages and occasional redistribution event. As long as the cellphone is charged, most probably don't need 24 hrs electricity availability in their modest electronics deprived homes. I on the other hand, depend heavily on electricity for something to do. If I know in advance I can make sure the laptop is charged and I have programming to watch. However, I cannot currently recharge the laptop after a viewing binge. Although, I can always grab a bag of ice to keep the beer cold. I decided to name "drinking Tuesday" to cover the regular 6 hour scheduled outage but I am not sure I wish to add drinking Wednesday, drinking Friday and drinking Saturday to the schedule.

It is the way it is and current drain on the infrastructure is a bit of an anomaly, but the electrical system has been and continues to be a big fail on the part of the providers and the govt. The annoyance factor for me is 2nd only to govt bureaucracy in this country. It is inexcusable that a country of the DR's level of development can't keep the lights on most of the time. Most locals don't seem to care and only burn tires when the price of gasoline, propane or rice goes up too much. I found a big pile of discarded tires the other day next to the road - I may grab a few and light one in front of my house every time the power is off for longer than 15 minutes...

As I said, I really do not wish to install yet another an inverter in a rental property, but if things continue as they have been, I may have no choice. I already paid to fix the wiring and most of the deficient plumbing, what's a bit more?

I'm dreading a big storm that takes out the power for days, a week or longer. I may have to eat all the food in the fridge and then go to WW's house even if he isn't there. :)
 
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franco1111

Guest
josh2203, Government employees are not ever embarrassed for not providing a service. That is at that root of the problem with a government run entity like Edenorte. Competence and business sense are frowned upon.

As for the solar panel discussion. Personal responsibility and your own money can provide some relief from the problem if you own a home and have the space to do so. But the vast majority of Dominicans do not have this personal option.

I have it on good word that "the powers that be" in the DR are actually considering large scale solar farms that ring the country. That helps during the day time, but where are all those huge batteries going to come from for the other 14 or so hours? Yes , solar is great, but only a part of what could make things better.

Privatizing the electrical distribution system would go a long way in improving the situation. Then people would pay or get arrested and cut off for stealing power. Sadly that is not going to happen any time soon.

The private electric company in Punta Cana (and Bayahibe) does a great job. When the electricity quits arriving from the national grid the generators start and we have luz again in about 10 minutes. But, the cost is about 30 cents a kwh (15 pesos).
 
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cobraboy

Guest
How much of the problem is due to reservoir levels too low to generate power?
 
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reilleyp

Guest
The private electric company in Punta Cana (and Bayahibe) does a great job. When the electricity quits arriving from the national grid the generators start and we have luz again in about 10 minutes. But, the cost is about 30 cents a kwh (15 pesos).

Same thing in Samana with Luz y Fuerza. It is similarly expensive, but it is very reliable. The people of El Limon did not want to pay the high rate anymore, so they had huelgas and demanded that the town switch to EdeNorte.

The town switched, and once they realized that Edenorte's cheap power is off about half of the day, the huelgas started and they cut down the electric poles and the wires. Then they had zero power for a long time. I am still not sure if it has been restored to some areas.
 
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windeguy

Guest
How much of the problem is due to reservoir levels too low to generate power?

Without knowing how the power from various sources is actually distributed all around the country, I would have no way to answer that.
 
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chico bill

Guest
Class Action - now that's rich. Even in the states the only one benefiting from class action is the lawyers, all others go fish.....