The central government has announced that it has doubled the monthly subsidy for the Corporación Dominicana de Electricidad (CDE), from just under RD$100 million to RD$200 million. The measure was imposed after a meeting of the Government Council, involving President Leonel Fernandez and many of his key advisors.
The CDE, whose service has been deficient in recent years, has a deficit of RD$225 million per month, contributing to a debt of RD$1,300 thousand million according to the state-owned corporation’s own calculations. Because of the proliferation of illegal connections which provide free service to entire sectors of the capital and other cities, combined with a failure to pay their bills by other users, the CDE only brings in enough money to pay its monthly obligation to private electricity suppliers who, on numerous occasions, have complained of late and incomplete payments.
The CDE’s new general administrator, Temistocles Montas, is currently negotiating with the private suppliers for a extension of the time required to pay its debts. The General Electricity Bill, which has been in Congress for more than three years without being approved, calls for the partial privatization of the corporation.