Just days after the Corporación Dominicana de Electricidad (CDE) claimed that its production was in excess of the national demand, a new wave of power cuts of considerable length has hit the country. The public relations director of the state-owned electricity company, Alberto Ramirez, told the news media that the power cuts experienced are due to the removal of several power stations from the CDE’s distribution network in order to make repairs or to conduct routine maintenance.
ITABO I will be out for approximately 20 days for maintenance work, while two others, Los Mina IV and Los Mina V, were being repaired and scheduled to be put back on line on 1 June. Mr.
Ramirez also reports that the Smith-Enron company in Puerto Plata removed one of its generators for repairs. At the end of the week 24-31 May, the CDE was producing less than 800,000 kilowatts against a national demand of over 1,050,000. The deficit is even larger when taking into account the loss of some 320,000 kilowatts due to the poor condition of many of the CDE’s distribution lines.
In other CDE news, it was announced that the general administrator, Amilcar Romero, has taken a leave of absence due to unspecified health problems. In his place, Prospero Cortorreal was named the interim general administrator.