This Friday, Cogentrix, the electrical power generator in San Pedro de Macoris, will receive a check for US$12 million as a down payment on the debt that is owed by the government, estimated at upwards of US$30-million. According to the economy section of El Caribe newspaper, Cogentrix will activate one of its 100-megawatt units, which had been shut down since last October. According to the story, Cogentrix will receive payments in installments of US$6 million dollars per month. Executives of the company will sign an agreement of understanding tomorrow during their meeting with the Negotiation Committee for the Electricity Sector, which will enumerate the amounts the government must pay and the date of each payment. In related information, Finance Minister Jose Lois Malkum said there is still no agreement on the rates for next month. The government?s request that the electric companies absorb the new cost increases has not yet been responded to.