President elect Hipólito Mejía met in Spain with the top executives of Union Fenosa, the Spanish company that has the largest concession to distribute power in the DR. The board of directors of the company in Madrid received him. Unión Fenosa has also invested large amounts of money in the construction of power plants in the DR. In a Balaguer administration, the company was the managing consultant to the state electricity corporation. The President-elect has repeatedly announced he will revise the privatization contracts the Dominican government signed with Union Fenosa. During the visit, the company’s international division president, Honorato Lopez Isla proposed to build a gas plant. He said this would be the definite solution of the power problems in the DR. Lopez Isla said the plant could sell power at half the price of the present generators. And that it could be operational in just two years. Unión Fenosa will present a formal proposal to the new government that starts in mid August. Unión Fenosa’s contract restricts the company’s involvement in production of power to 15%. The present power generation deficit is estimated at 500 megawatts. Lopez Isla complained of the negative press the company receives in the DR. He said that problems are due to deficiencies in the area of transmission and generation, not to distribution problems. Union Fenosa Edesur and Edenorte have been primarily criticized for charging for blackouts. Despite long blackouts, power bills continue high. Dominicans pay one of the highest electricity rates in the Americas.
