The administrator of the Corporación Dominicana de Electricidad (CDE), Temistocles Montás, says that the power cuts that are now occurring in Santo Domingo are primarily due to breakdowns in the distribution lines, adding that on 10 October there were some 1,012 megawatts available. He also said there will be some relief because work has advanced on renovating the CDE’s transformer workshop, where some five transformers a day now are being repaired. In addition, he is expecting a shipment of 700 new transformers from overseas to meet the demand.
The CDE represented the Dominican government at the seminar “Privatization: The British Experience” held at the Hotel Santo Domingo under the joint sponsorship of the British Embassy and the British Chamber of Commerce.
Temistocles Montás challenged the National Congress to approve the General Electricity Bill by January at the latest, or if not, he would seek to resolve the electricity problem parallel to Congress. He said that there are many international companies interested in investing in the Dominican electricity industry but they will not do so until there is new clear legislation and the CDE is relieved of the responsibility of purchasing and selling the power that is produced. A private company is also expected to be more efficient at collecting payments from consumers. At the present time, studies show that the CDE is only collecting 40% of the money due for the electricity it is delivering.
He also indicated that the Spanish government has offered soft financing in the amount of US$270 million for the installation of new generators, but that the intention of this government is to attract private investors. In his opinion, some US$3,500 million a year is needed to keep up with the country’s growth in demand. He said the government is not in a position to assume this cost in addition to the current subsidy of RD$2,600 million a year for the CDE. The CDE’s principal problem is the failure to collect money for the electricity it is providing. Others include the lack of maintenance of the CDE’s distribution system and the more than three year delay of the General Electricity Bill by Congress. He said, however, that the present law already allows the CDE to subcontract certain commercial aspects of its operations. Private companies are now producing most of the electricity the CDE is delivering to consumers. Temistocles Montas promised that all development moves would be totally open to public scrutiny.