The government has reached an agreement with the electricity distributors that will soften the blow of an announced 20-percent hike in the March electric bills. The government created a RD$200-million fund to absorb approximately half of the increase that would have otherwise been levied on residential consumers. The Transitional Attenuation Fund for Electric Rates will mean no increases in rates for all those consuming less than 300 kWh per month.
The resolution signed by President Mejia was announced by Luis Gonzalez Fabra, the presidential spokesman and Finance Minister Jose Lois Malkum. The document says that in the months when the combination of lower exchange rate and international price of crude oil permits a reduction in the electricity rates, the price will be attenuated so that the government may recover the money set aside for this temporary fund.
Diario Libre reports that those consuming over 300 kWh will receive increases of 5 to 10 percent. For instance, a household that would have received a bill for RD$1,945 in March would now be billed RD$1,697. On the other end of the scale, the rate per kWh will go up 10 percent for those consuming more than 1,000 kWh.
In the agreement, there is no mention of any preferential treatment for commercial and industrial consumers.
Power rates are adjusted monthly in the Dominican Republic. Hoy newspaper explains that for every dollar increase in petroleum prices from Dominican suppliers, the electric rates go up by 1.65 percent. For each peso the exchange rate goes up, the power rates increase by 3.85 percent.