Temístocles Montas, general manager of the Corporación Dominicana de Electricidad, continued to criticize the Smith-Enron contract to supply power to the state energy grid, saying that it was negotiated by National Palace officers against the recommendations of the state electricity utility technicians and international organizations, including experts of the World Bank. Last week it was revealed in the press that the International Finance Corporation was one of the finance companies of the private power generator, which also received funding from the Caribbean Development Corporation. The CDE says that the Dominican government does not have to honor the contract because it was not sanctioned by Congress and therefore is illegal. Officers of the IFC have traveled to Santo Domingo to seek a friendly agreement to the conflict, given their involvement. Hoy newspaper says that the CDE is in conflict with Smith-Enron over a difference of US$37.5 million. The differences will be heard in an arbitrage court in Mexico in March. The monies are broken down as: US$13,647,246 per installed capacity; US$5,601,705 per operation and maintenance; US$10,306,000 per fuel consumption; US$5,253,307 per interest payments and US$3,004,630 per unavailability funding. In a press tour of the plant, new general manager Kevin Manning denied that the company was billing for energy not supplied. He said that the company billed the government between US$6.5 and US$7 million a month. The CDE’s main gripe is that the Smith Enron plant has not been a stable supplier of energy at times when every kilowatt is needed. Guillermo Tejeda, spokesman for the CDE, said that the country has a deficit of almost 300 megawatts of power, which results in blackouts of 10 to 12 hours and Dominicans having to rely on their alternative sources of power. The government has purchased five Alsthon turbogas plants from France and a Siemens plant from a German company which are expected to provide some relief by summer.
