New government electricity authorities and private distributors have been holding talks to negotiate new contracts, according to a report in the Listin Diario, where Karl Huber of the AES was interviewed. He said that any change in the contracts will be made with the consent of both parties. He said that there are things that can be done with the contracts that can benefit both parts and that conversations are ongoing with Cesar Sánchez, appointed new director of the CDE. Huber said that one of the major problems here is that there is a culture that establishes that poor Dominicans do not have to pay for the consumption of power. This was ingrained in Dominicans during the days of the Balaguer administrations. AES Distribuidora del Este is in charge of an area of 11,000 square kilometers located East of the Máximo Gómez Avenue in Santo Domingo. Of approximately 400,000 users, they estimate that 150,000 are connected illegally. He indicated they have installed more than 500 kilometers of electricity transmission lines, and have attracted 50,000 new clients. They expect to attract 2,000-4,500 clients per month. He said for blackouts to end, the system needs to increase its availability to 1,800 megawatts, up from the 1,600 megawatts maximum availability at present. He said that the electricity grid reflects years of deficient maintenance and investment. He said that less than 30% of the clients of his company have meters working properly. That is 60,000 of 250,000 clients. He said in their first year in operation they have installed 100,000 meters. He said they contemplate an investment of US$40 million dollars this year, and US$10 million investment in subsequent years.
