The former general manager of the state-owned Dominican Electricity Corporation, Radhamés Segura said in a talk at the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra that Dominicans will continue to pay high prices for power supply. In a talk titled "Electricity and the Future of the Power Industry in the DR," he said that as long as the country depends on fuel oil-run turbine generators, the cost of power will remain high. He said the gas-run plants cost .42 times more to operate than those run by steam. The nation depends on these gas-run power plants as these were installed to meet the deficit. More efficient steam-run generators, or charcoal-consuming or natural gas-consuming plants take many years to be installed. Furthermore, Segura said the country suffers from high system losses through the DR’s power transmission and distribution networks, including deficient transformers and substations of the distribution companies. He says the cost of power is also affected by outright theft.
