The newly empowered Superintendent of Electricity has not yet created consumer complaint booths due to lack of funds. Only a small part of the DR$11 million (about US$687,000) budgeted for the purpose has been delivered by the Ministry of Commerce. The decision to place the booths in each branch of the private electric companies was made the national cabinet this past February 7th. But no trace of them has been seen in any office of Edenorte, Edesur or AES del Este, the three regional power distributors. Charged with the responsibility to teach the public to read electric meters and understand bills, to monitor the operations of the electric companies, and to otherwise protect electricity consumers’ interests in the newly privatized environment, the financially strapped superintendent has accomplished very little of its mission little to date. It started to recruit the personnel who would staff the consumer complaint offices, but none have been appointed because no money is available for salaries. Recently, it had to drop its publicity campaign to teach meter reading due to lack of money. Even its own offices remain unfurnished, with staff required to remain standing or wait until a desk is vacated at the end of a shift. An unnamed spokesman for the Commerce Ministry told El Siglo that "bureaucratic procedures are very slow," and requests for appropriations by Electricity Superintendent Marcos Cochon remain bogged down in "paperwork."
