Stealing Power - will they start enforce the laws?

[cobraboy]

It may be expensive now, but the technology is advancing and more people are buying into it. This is what will drive prices down.

I'm in favor of anything that will break this circle-jerk of institutionalized corruption and greed.

Circle-jerk of institutional corruption aside, fact is solar is NOT market accepted on a level that consumers buy it. It's pretty much the domain of wealthy environmentalists.

A solar system for our humble abode would cost roughly $40,000. With our sub 700kw/mo usage, the payback would exceed 40 years. Not economically worth it. When the cost gets to the 10 year range folks may begin to consider them.

 

[windeguy]

Solar is way too expensive

Circle-jerk of institutional corruption aside, fact is solar is NOT market accepted on a level that consumers buy it. It's pretty much the domain of wealthy environmentalists.

A solar system for our humble abode would cost roughly $40,000. With our sub 700kw/mo usage, the payback would exceed 40 years. Not economically worth it. When the cost gets to the 10 year range folks may begin to consider them.

This is very similar to the analysis I recently did. Even if the price drops to 50% of that it is still not possible to justify such an investment unless there was no grid power available.

 

[Chirimoya]

I agree that the failure to solve the problem is almost totally due to lack of political will not to mention the lost opportunities for stealing by the politicians themselves.

It has been shown that where non-payment results in disconnection, everyone pays. The cellphone example is commonly given, and also the undeniable fact that in non-Ede areas like the east coast and Samana there is 100% collection from all electricity users, rich and poor, corporate and domestic alike.

 

[windeguy]

Chiri thanks for pointing out that there are already places in the DR where actually paying for electricity is the rule rather than stealing it.

 

[RacerX]

i am voting with my feet and leaving and the poor electricity contributes to the decision.

the locals don't have experience with reliable electricity so they don't have anything to compare it with. many, many third world countries have more reliable electricity than the DR and they're much further from the continental US.

there isnt a problem with electrical distribution. the power goes off sporadically because no one has paid the bill. It sounds as though there is a production or distribution problem and that was never the case. The case is that no one pays for it.

 

[bienamor]

This is very similar to the analysis I recently did. Even if the price drops to 50% of that it is still not possible to justify such an investment unless there was no grid power available.

Still not a true payback rate, as during the 40years you will have upgrades and maintence add on. that will push back further the payback rate. If your figuring 40 years now then with the add on and maintence you looking more like 55 to 60.

as cobraboy says that buys an awful lot of over priced electric, and backup systems.

 

[cobraboy]

Chiri thanks for pointing out that there are already places in the DR where actually paying for electricity is the rule rather than stealing it.

I live in a nice town-Jarabacoa-that Edenorte uses as a posterchild of 24/7 service.

Bullspit.

We have blackouts like everybody else.

The ONLY time we don't have outages are holiday weekends when the town is invaded by Big Shots and politicians.

 

[Conchman]

The Punta Cana - DR east area is powered by private electricity and not government/political interference, this is the simple reason as to why they have 24/7 power.

 

[Conchman]

I would also like to point out that if everybody paid their electricity bill (if laws were enforced), it would ultimately help the poorer areas, as 24/7 power would make for a more efficient country, allowing for job creation via more exports, manufacturing, etc etc.

 

[windeguy]

I live in a nice town-Jarabacoa-that Edenorte uses as a posterchild of 24/7 service.

Bullspit.

We have blackouts like everybody else.

The ONLY time we don't have outages are holiday weekends when the town is invaded by Big Shots and politicians.

We have a small house in Jarabacoa as well and power if of much less frequently and for shorter times than on the north coast. It seems to be "better" there since everyone pays something, but the rest of the country will still drag that down.

As I write this the power came on - at less than 100 Volts! Speaking of the system being dragged down.

 

[windeguy]

Localized power plants

Jeez, now there's food for thought.

Imagine if each power generator only supplied a certain geographical area, located in their vicinity, instead of feeding into the national grid.

Instead of it being an "it costs more to produce than we're bringing in" system feeding the whole national grid, the users would be linked to a specific grid, much easier to identify, and hopefully would generate peer pressure among select users of a certain generator to have their neighbors pay.

How's that for a dream?

It is possible. This company is commercializing a design by Los Alamos National Labs ( a former customer of mine) to do just that.


Hyperion Power

Power for 20,000 US style houses that needs to be "recharged" every 7 to 10 years.

Anybody want to go halves?

 

[windeguy]

The IMF will be the scapegoat

Within a story about the DR economy today is the excuse the administration will have for changing the electricity sector. The IMF made me do it, I swear. Who believes they will be removing subsidies and improving service?

What do they mean by easing restriction on the exchange rate?

IMF wants to ease exchange rates

The International Monetary Fund reminded the Dominican Republic yesterday that it would have to go from a policy of expansion to a policy of budget re-adjustment in the second half of the year, according to what has been approved in the Stand-by arrangement. John Lipsky, first deputy managing director of the IMF said that in order to achieve this, the Dominican government would have to "quickly" eliminate the tax exemptions, improve tax management and control current expenditures while maintaining their plans for investments. Lipsky said that the government is going forward with a program to reform the electricity sector, which will in fact remove the subsidies on consumption and improve the service for customers. According to Lipsky, this reform will reduce the burden on public spending and open spaces for programs to fight poverty.
The economist also advised the government to gradually ease the restrictions on the exchange rate so that it can strengthen the country's capacity to resist outside shocks, especially if economic conditions at global level are worse than forecast. He added that the DR has behaved "satisfactorily" in the context of its credit program

 

[PICHARDO]

Now that Semana Santa is over, I recall Pichardo posting that the government would start to enforce the laws against the stealing of electricity, card based meters to be installed in some ares, etc.

Please post if you see any actions taken against those who are stealing electricity.

Ten charged on electrical fraud chages, imposed with coercion measures.

Source: PGASE Press relations.

Santo Domingo- The Attorney General Deputy for the electric system (PGASE), yesterday announced submission to the justice system of ten individuals accused of electric fraud committed at various points in the National District, the Santo Domingo province and La Vega.

Judge Moises Ferrer, Deputy Attorney General for the electrical system, identified the arrested as Nicolas Flores Romero; Manuel Jesus Guillen Roberto De la Rosa; Eddy Rojas; Leonel Sebastian Olivo Rodriguez; Jose Leonardo Ure?a Velasquez; Jose Ambiorix Reyes Mendoza; empresary of la Vega Luis Manuel Abreu; Miguelina Aura Jimenez and Geraldo Guzman.

He explained that all are imposed measures of coercion in economic guarantees from five to 100 thousand pesos with impediment of departure from the country and periodic reporting to the PGASE.

Ferrer asked citizens not to be seduced with promises by those that promise an array of electrical services that pay less or avoid pay altogether, because in the end all will be charged by the crime of electricity fraud as established in the General Law of electricity 125-01.

The Ministry will give faithful compliance with the instructions of the Attorney-General of the Republic, Radhames Jimenez Pe?a, who considered insulting to Dominican society the theft of electricity so will have zero tolerance to the electric fraud.

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Not only are charges being effected upon those benefiting from the theft of services, but also the Attorney-General of the Republic office made it clear that it will soon seek the lawful guidance under the article pertaining to the electricity Law, to prosecute the actual contractors with licenses in the sector that performed those changes as well. Those found to have performed changes to provide free or low priced energy usage to consumers, will be charged and their licenses 100% cancelled.

The PGASE is now only taking those cases that have been found to be easy to document, with rather sufficient irrefutable proof, to send a message to others to stop and get back on the legal.

I understand that you see the number of cases as insignificant now, but in reality they're tweaking the way cases will be iron-clad to challenges in court, prosecuting from biz to normal household owners, even renters...

There's an amendment in congress to place liens on property directly, to impose stiff fines to large scale violators. The liens will be enforceable to the property when sold. Meaning that the state will sell the liens to the public in auctions, giving them a right to impose a set % of interest to the lien until recovered. Property placed with liens, will only be provided with new ownership or loans approval from the public offices, once the liens are paid for in full.

That will allow the gov to collect the fines as imposed by the court within the 90 days of default for payment from the guilty part, after which the lien will be sold in auction and the gov get paid for the theft of services.

To make the liens investment lucrative to buyers, the % rate on the total fined will be compounded interest over interest %. A lien of 100 pesos at 5% interest annually will be calculated each year adding the unpaid interest atop the original fined amount.

That's but one of the multiple measures on the pipe for theft of services down the road...

For the poorest sectors the gov is working on the prepaid meters and a mixture of solar panels and low-energy appliances, all aimed to allow poor households to have electrical service that meets their basic needs and not one Kwh more...

Expect to see a floodgate of energy theft prosecutions in the coming months!!! The PLD is halting the prosecution in large scale to have their elections first...

The IMF already sent a message that it won't wait any longer for that to take place and it seems that things will be moving brisk now...

So sad that politics trump the needs of our country in time of the right calls for action...

Line 2 of the SD METRO is very advanced and Line 3 soil and preliminaries studies are being completed as well... The new yellow taxis already started to roll out in the streets and thousands are also arriving from China... The feeder buses for SD's mass transit system will arrive in a few months...
The Police, DNCD, DAs and all law enforcement institutions are now being upgraded and changed with the assistance of John Jay and the USA's law enforcement system... The subsidy to the (oil based) propane gas will be dropped 100% and the price hiked to force people to adopt the cheaper/cleaner/stable priced natural gas to be offered to homes and biz in the country soon...

All those changes are hard to see in the surface but little by little are creeping up on us in the DR, once they're fully "official" rolled out; the changes would have already taken place... (New passport and Cedula for the DR soon!!!)...

 

[PICHARDO]

Within a story about the DR economy today is the excuse the administration will have for changing the electricity sector. The IMF made me do it, I swear. Who believes they will be removing subsidies and improving service?

The question is not "if" but how soon will be the gov strong armed into doing so... The IMF and WB are working very closely to force the DR to act upon this. Fernandez asked for a fluid start date after Feb or so, now he seems to be stretching the date since the party is the one holding the changes from taking place below his office and power. The IMF send a very clear message that it won't wait any longer, so expect changes to take place soon!!!

What do they mean by easing restriction on the exchange rate?

IMF wants to ease exchange rates

The International Monetary Fund reminded the Dominican Republic yesterday that it would have to go from a policy of expansion to a policy of budget re-adjustment in the second half of the year, according to what has been approved in the Stand-by arrangement. John Lipsky, first deputy managing director of the IMF said that in order to achieve this, the Dominican government would have to "quickly" eliminate the tax exemptions, improve tax management and control current expenditures while maintaining their plans for investments. Lipsky said that the government is going forward with a program to reform the electricity sector, which will in fact remove the subsidies on consumption and improve the service for customers. According to Lipsky, this reform will reduce the burden on public spending and open spaces for programs to fight poverty.
The economist also advised the government to gradually ease the restrictions on the exchange rate so that it can strengthen the country's capacity to resist outside shocks, especially if economic conditions at global level are worse than forecast. He added that the DR has behaved "satisfactorily" in the context of its credit program

That means that the DR is not a "floating" currency in terms of the real exchange rate (like I told you here plenty of times before), it's not a secret to all of us that understand the way we work, that the DR's currency is artificially held lower than it's actual value calls for in the free exchange market. The DR keeps a lot value in the internal market artificially lower in order to attract investment and goods cheaper to the region. The real exchange factor for the DR Peso, if the artificial control was removed, would be about 25 DR Pesos for 1 US Dollar...

The DR does that to control the shocks from the fluctuating external market's impact in the local economy. They can control the price for many items with ease, since they know beforehand that most merchants are working with a stupid profit margin far above the norm for the region, all thanks to the artificial exchange rate...

The DR controls the inflation indicators, creates precise internal revenue collections for the entire FY and keeps investors pegged to abnormal ROI for their infused capital into the country. It does all this, while the country's external debt balloons beyond the 60% of GDP on payments, which is sees as revolving credit that can be managed well in the future; achieving a target GDP growth doubled of tripled of today's going rate.

The IMF and WB, etc... Have seen the work of the DR and like it, but hate the way the DR goes about imposing it...

 

[donP]

Artificial Exchange Rate

The real exchange factor for the DR Peso, if the artificial control was removed, would be about 25 DR Pesos for 1 US Dollar...

There is not much such control.
If drug money and dirty funds (which need laundering) were not pumped into this country the Dominican peso would be worth much less and probably hover around 60 RD$/ US$.

donP

 

[PICHARDO]

A first: One month jail for Dominican man caught stealing power

The fat man finally got caught.

Santo Domingo.- A National District judge sent a merchant to spend one month in the jail at Najayo, after he was caught making an illegal connection to the power lines, the first such case ever recorded in the country.

Electrical System Assistant prosecutor Mois?s Ferrer called the case unprecedented, since temporary incarceration had only been previously ordered for cable theft and the installment and use of fraudulent systems, but not for connecting to the grid to steal energy. “That’s something intangible.”

He said Permanent Attention judge Jose Alejandro Vargas handed down the ruling against Alexander Reyes, who was charged after being detained on Tiradentes avenue in the sector La Agustina, where he made a direct hook up from the Electricity Distributor Company EDESUR’s power lines to his store.

“It’s understood that it’s an important case since the judges are becoming aware that the stealing of electrical energy is an infraction which must be punished by the country’s courts,” Ferrer said.

SOURCE: http://dominicantoday.com/dr/local/...-jail-for-Dominican-man-caught-stealing-power

 

[PICHARDO]

I guess it got started already...

 

[windeguy]

Amazing that the law is being enforced - finally

PICHARDO, you beat me to the punch on the Dominican Today article.

Let us hope that this is just the beginning and not a "flash" event that disappears like the PRA.

 

[Expat13]

Who is the thief

This was a ridiculous comment. In what other country are people allowed to steal electricity?

Who is the thief really,,,those who have been allowed to steal for many years or the Edesur who double charge the law obiding ones like me, who always pay-then out of the blue my bill doubles..

Hard to prosecute a thief, when you are a thief yourself.

 

[windeguy]

It is a corrupted system, I agree..

Who is the thief really,,,those who have been allowed to steal for many years or the Edesur who double charge the law obiding ones like me, who always pay-then out of the blue my bill doubles..

Hard to prosecute a thief, when you are a thief yourself.

I do not disagree with you. The entire system was corrupted by the policies in place for years with crooks everywhere in and out of the government. Perhaps this new approach will do something to correct this. (This situation is not much different than the situation with illegal drugs when you think about it. There are certainly parallels.)