North Coast blackouts are back for Class A circuits

W

windeguy

Guest
Is it even possible (practical) to charge someone with the theft electricity and have that proceed through the court system ending in some sort of meaningful resolution? If there is no deterrent, or at least the acknowledgement of a potential consequence for an action, what's the point? Which part of the philosophy is more important, the carrot or the stick?

For my neighbor, three doors down, they just told him pay up or we won't connect you again. No court was involved, just Edenorte and him.
 
J

josh2203

Guest
Thieving is an accepted prachetice by many in DR, electricity they must feel is their basic right just like the neighbor's TV

Agreed. Wasn't it mentioned a while back that some very large companies and rich people in managerial/political positions also refuse to pay for their luz (they simply just refuse, and nobody can make them either, apparently...), even though they are in debt with EDEs by millions... So it's definitely not just barrios who take luz for granted and free...
 
E

etolw

Guest
This situation with generators out of service means blackouts at Edenorte today, here in Cabarete as well as other regions.

From Edenorte

Power generation deficit due to service output generating plants

SANTIAGO.- Several electricity generating plants are outside the national energy system, #EdenorteRD reported on Thursday, a situation it said affects the service it offers to its customers.

The energy entity said the energy generation deficit has caused the interruption of the electricity service in an unusual way in its concession area, scattered in the 14 provinces of Cibao.


In particular, EDENORTE Dominicana highlighted that the interruptions generated by said generation deficit affect the 24-hour or Class A circuits.
 
C

Cdn_Gringo

Guest
Those who live in the Sosua area are probably aware that the road widening work has now reached Sosua Abajo. There will be frequent outages as the transmission lines are shifted to relocated poles as the work progresses. I'm pretty sure that was the reason for the 45 minute outage tonight and the 1.5 hour outage the other day. 19:30 seems to be the preferred time for these outages in the past.
 
E

etolw

Guest
Here at ProCab Cabarete the outage started about 20:50 today and ended as I write this, 22:47.
Earlier this evening the light went out in Callejon Cabarete, about 5´clock, but were back again in CalleJon when Edenor switched off Procab.
So today looks like planned outages to save energy, taking out zones for 2-4 hours each, as Edenor has announced on their Facebook/Twitter feed.

Wonder if the lack of combustible at some generators are because of lack of money/payments, caused by those who refuse to pay for their electricity (steal as discussed earlier)

Many Dominicans seem to have a hard time understanding that some has to pay the bill if they want stable energy.
 
W

windeguy

Guest
My neighbor reports that Edenorte was in La Cienaga, backed by a guard with a shotgun, telling the people that they actually had to pay for electricity or be disconnected. The populace had a hard time understanding this concept. A burning of tires session was held in protest. This is what happens when you have a government agency in charge of power distribution.
 
C

Cdn_Gringo

Guest
Another typical poorly thoughtout plan. Doesn't matter how good your distribution system is if you have no effective control over power generation as well and vice versa. I'm not saying the electrical distribution system comes close to being a model of efficiency and functionality as it clearly is not.

If the govt wished to address the distribution problems it could, but would require major upgrades in every aspect of the current "system". In addition, such a modernization would require hiring far more knowledgeable and competent mangers than I suspect are available in the local labour pool.

Even a privately owned distribution system would have to rely on foreign expertise to design and run it. It would be a fool's errand to rely on Dominican labour to install and maintain the electrical distribution system without foreign trained expertise supervising and verifying everything that is done to that network on a daily basis.

The complete lack of structured formal training, electrical standards and practices and zero regulatory inspections in this country ensures that anyone working with electricity has absolutely no idea what they are doing beyond having seen someone else do something similar sometime in the past.

Electricity delivery in this country is something that needs to be reset and done over almost completely. Bad and unsafe practices are evident in all parts of the distribution system so much so that I am convinced fixing them would take longer and cost more than just rebuilding the network from scratch, doing it properly, but alas, no one here knows what properly actually means.
 
E

ese tipo

Guest
I was in Santiago late Aug early Sep in the thickest parts of " los apagones" and I gotta tell you the energy roulette is enough to drive you bananas.My wife and I were air bnb'ing and we were in a newer modern apt. with an ups system that of course wasn't ample enough for a/c. but tv, lights, fans and wifi were always on so we managed.As someone who has family in both Puerto Rico and Florida I have helped put together a hurricane preparedness plan (electrically ) that I think may be of use here.

https://www.amazon.com/JKLcom-Emerg...4059&sprefix=rechargeable+LED,aps,181&sr=8-10

These bulbs have proven to be little life savers I think they serve a dual purpose here.1st and foremost; emergency lighting.The battery takes over once power is out. Lumens are comparable to a 40 watt incandescent (per manufacturer )
and 2ndly by simply turning off your inverter it can give your inverter batteries a much needed break.30 bucks for 4 bulbs seems reasonable for such convenience.if you don't need 4 bulbs depot has singles as well as target feit electric and GE respectively.

https://www.amazon.com/Inkbird-Temp...id=1569777085&sprefix=ink+bird,aps,180&sr=8-1


Stepping up price wise this little gem is quite useful the only caveat here is you have to either use your small chest freezer or go out and get your hands on one.what this is going to accomplish is one of the most efficient refrigerators you could ever own.By taking advantage of a freezer's higher insulation rating you won't be cycling your compressor on and off
as much as a standard fridge.Also typical fridge runs in the neighborhood of 700 watts whereas a small chest freezer at 100 or even less.Third and possibly most important is the theory behind upright refrigeration, since cold settles and heat rises when you open the door you don't spill out your cold air like as in a normal fridge (think supermarket: milk, eggs butter etc.most of those fridges nowadays don't even have doors )

https://www.altestore.com/store/deep-cycle-batteries/lithium-batteries-c4441/
Now this is a big ticket item huge to be honest.But without getting too technical, it is a far superior battery than your average flooded battery. half the weight, an expected cycle life of 5000 charges, dod ( depth of discharge ) rating of 100%,but most important imho is no release of flammable fumes while charging.These along with other battery chemistries are what's helping turn the tide on renewable energy.


And of course the heart of your ups systems "el inversor" I won't be suggesting any one in particular but I will stress what I think is a no brainer, the pure sine wave types. With all of our fancy doodads and electronics your typical square wave inverter is murder on these prima donna electronics of today,it's what's know in the biz as dirty power it would be like water hammering in radiator it will knock your fancy gizmos for a loop eventually.There are what's known as h-bridge transformer inversores which are slightly better but still not a pure sine wave like what's available from utility.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-100-...ency-Power-Transfer-Switch-TC10323R/100171587

And finally this safety device that I would hope one day is implemented all throughout RD.Solar standards throughout the world have made it to where your grid tied system doesn't generate when there is an outage,it is a safety measure that keeps your solar system from back feeding to the grid therefor supplying energy to the system in reverse potentially energizing the utility lines that crews may be working on.Sadly I have seen way too many systems installed without any type of transfer equipment.I know that the likelihood of their being lineman working on the lines when one has 4 to 5 outages daily or the Utility simply not generating, but you never can be too safe.

So I'll leave you guys with this, there are some very good and knowledgeable electricians in the DR and I think it will be in your best interest to hire someone who has experience in the field. And as we know especially in the DR confident does not mean competent!
 
W

windeguy

Guest
ese tipo, Not bad suggestions, but I would just rather see the power companies be privatized, removed from government control of power distribution corruption and inefficiency, and people actually pay for what they receive .

As for the battery suggestion: I don't see many people paying the price for such expensive lithium ion batteries. Wet cell batteries could be replaced many times over for the huge price indeed of those lithium batteries despite the long term cost trade offs that are received.

https://static1.squarespace.com/sta...06401/Fact+sheet_Lead+acid+vs+lithium+ion.pdf
 
C

chico bill

Guest
Those who live in the Sosua area are probably aware that the road widening work has now reached Sosua Abajo. There will be frequent outages as the transmission lines are shifted to relocated poles as the work progresses. I'm pretty sure that was the reason for the 45 minute outage tonight and the 1.5 hour outage the other day. 19:30 seems to be the preferred time for these outages in the past.

Have not seen one pole relocated in the past 4 months
 
C

Cdn_Gringo

Guest
About 20 minutes to go before this week's scheduled electricity outage for my area begins. All of Sosua 9 am - 4 pm and Cabarete 9 am - 1 pm. Hope springs eternal that the rain this morning will cancel the work but I'll take any reason at all for a cancellation. I suspect I will be disappointed, again.
 
N

Neargale

Guest
You guys talk about planned outages... how do I find them for my area? I looked on edenorte.com.do and promptly got lost. I live in Costambar. Where do I look please?
 
M

malko

Guest
Gotta love the campo !!!!!

No blackouts in the past few years for us....... except on Tuesday's from time to time for maintenance.
 

etolw

Banned
Oct 6, 2018
816
195
63
ETED WORKS IN THE RESTORATION OF THE ELECTRICAL SERVICE

Blackouts over the whole DR today, caused by the fallout of the generators at Punta Catalina I at 3:46 p.m, losing about half the country’s energy supply.

As of now 11:35 the problems still persists, we have our second blackout here in Cabarete today now.
Hopefully the problems will be resolved until tomorrow morning.

The Dominican Electricity Transmission Company (ETED) reported tonight that the failure recorded in the National Interconnected Electric System (SENI) caused the loss of some 1,319 Megawatts (MW) of 2,595 MW that were in line.

He said that this represents 51% of the total demand supplied at that time, which left Gran Santo Domingo and the eastern part of the country without service.

He indicated that the fault was recorded at 3:46 p.m. in the subsystem at 138 kV transmission.

The ETED emphasized that it is currently taking the necessary measures to restore the system and is investigating what caused it.

As for the companies providing the service, he explained that the Northern Electricity Distributor (EdeNorte) has 94 circuits out of service; Edesur (Distribuidora del Sur), about 15 and EdeEste (Distribuidora del Este), about 7.
 
U

USA DOC

Guest
...saw a few days ago that Danilo was asking for a loan of $400 million dollars US... to improve the electric grid?...
 

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
44,774
7,314
113
The incompetence continues. When I asked about the blackouts yesterday, Edenorte said it was because the power from our substation was "bajo frequencia". Right.
 

cavok

Silver
Jun 16, 2014
11,256
5,168
113
Cabarete
24/7 power from EdeNorte is not any closer to being 24/7 today than when I first got it almost 10 years ago.
 

etolw

Banned
Oct 6, 2018
816
195
63
The incompetence continues. When I asked about the blackouts yesterday, Edenorte said it was because the power from our substation was "bajo frequencia". Right.

Nah, that information is not incorrect, it was the truth. Several power generation units were disconnected from the national grid.This caused the frequency to drop and demanded disconnections of substations across the country. Normal occurrence when power demand is larger than what is produced.But they could for sure tell you the background of the frequency drop that caused the blackouts
 

Cdn_Gringo

Gold
Apr 29, 2014
8,714
1,184
113
I can't help but reminded of the recent thread dealing with the proposed liquefied propane pipeline and storage facility. This country can't keep the lights on. Back home electricians and gas techs go to school for at least two years to learn how to properly work on these systems and must maintain in good standing a Govt issued license to work on these systems.

Here it seems that any Pedro with a pair of scissors and rubber flip flops (the flip flops being optional apparently) can pretty much do whatever they like with no understanding of the work they are performing. Sure, equipment fails from time to time. This was not however the only significant blackout on the island that I can remember. Losing 51% of the transmission capability seems to indicate that much more can and should be done to limit the impact of such failures in the future. We know there will be another one, it's just a mater of time.

Based on what I have experienced in my short time here, I have no confidence in the electrical system, water system, the construction industry or any other infrastructure that relies on proven principles and practices to be operated safely and efficiently. When there is a large quantity of LP being stored and moved around the countryside are we really prepared to accept it when "they" say Ooops? Crikey!