Electricity Superintendent George Reinoso explained that the intensifying power generation and supply problems – with a current deficit of 200 and 300 megawatts – are due to the withdrawal of credit facilities to the electricity sector. Power distributors owe US$100 million to the generators, and the anticipated US$200-million World Bank loan has yet to be disbursed. The generators’ clients, in turn, owe RD$5 billion in unpaid bills. If this situation is not resolved soon, electricity prices will have to be raised by about 30%, warned Reinoso. The situation is particularly harsh in the country’s second-largest city, Santiago. A localized flooding problem brought down six power pylons, further aggravating the power shortages of the area in which electricity cuts of epic proportions are nothing new.
The International Monetary Fund delegation that has been reviewing the government’s takeover of the electricity distribution companies known as the “Edes” has returned to Washington to prepare its report, and is due back in the country next Wednesday.