The government signed an agreement with Distribuidora del Este, Edesur, and Edenorte to make direct payments to the generators of the subsidy on the price of fuel that compensates these companies for the increasing prices of fuel in international markets. The agreement seeks to return to the distributors adequate levels of profitability, as these have alleged multiple losses for their low billing regarding power supplied. The distributors have not been successful in attracting a large enough number of new paying users as was expected when the privatization process took place. The agreement known as Acuerdo Global para la Sostenibilidad del Sector Electrico was signed by the Minister of Industry and Commerce Angel Lockward and the general manager of the Dominican Electricity Corporation, Cesar Sanchez for the Dominican government. It will be retroactive 1 January 2001. El Siglo newspaper criticizes the distributors, particularly the Spanish companies Edenorte and Edesur for not being more aggressive at billing. It criticizes that the companies have not made sufficient efforts to attract new clients, or even bill their paying clients, seeking to save costs and charge fines for delayed payments. The newspaper says that to collect it is necessary that the companies invest in improving distribution networks, connections, procedures to impede power theft, and hire personnel to distribute bills, as other service companies have done. The newspaper says that AES Distribuidora del Este has been the best of the three power distribution companies, and has been successful at increasing the number of its paying clients in the eastern side of the country and its revenues by installing new cables that impede theft.
