Puerto Plata suffered through a 36-hour blackout over the New Year holiday. The blackout began at 6 pm of 31 December. Large hotels and establishments in Puerto Plata were not affected, due to their powerful standby plants, but small businesses and homes suffered the effects of the extended power outage. Hoy newspaper said that what was most criticized by Puerto Plata residents was the indifference of Edenorte, the power company, that offered at the time no explanation as to what was the problem. Hoy newspaper said that after many many hours of trying to make contact, finally Christian Jimenez, in charge of public relations was available. By that time the problem has been resolved. Jimenez explained that the problem was caused by the failure of a major transformer in Puerto Plata. The problem was resolved by bringing in a transformer of La Vega. Edesur and Edenorte, that have the monopoly on power distribution in most of the country, have been constantly criticized in the press for their very poor customer relations.
