Cesar Sanchez, the head of the CDEEE, told reporters from El Caribe that in spite of the Official Commission for the Electric Sector having designated December as the last month of subsidies for consumers, the government would continue to provide this umbrella during 2004. If not for the subsidies, known as the Compensation Fund, consumers would have faced a 73% increase in their electric bills, due to the devaluation of the peso and the increased price of petroleum.