Superintendent of Electricity Francisco Mendez said the government plans to renegotiate the buy and sell contracts that resulted from the Madrid Accord and established prices for the long term that are not market or competition driven. As reported in the Listin Diario, he said the Madrid Accord violates the Electricity Law. Another priority, he said, is to renegotiate the contracts with the Smith-Enron and Cogentrix power plants that establish fixed charges regardless of the volume of power supplied. Mendez said this must be done as soon as possible in order to render the generation and distribution costs of the industry transparent.
Mendez also said they seek to return the Ede Norte and Ede Sur power plants to the private sector in the short term.
He said that first step is to improve the service. An industry that does not produce is not entitled to charge for a service that is delivered in such a precarious way, he explained, adding that people do not feel motivated to pay for such service, either.
On the other hand, Radhames Segura, in charge of the CDEEE, said yesterday that the goal of the government is to end the blackouts. A first step in this direction, said Segura, is to reduce the current US$27-million monthly deficit of the power distribution companies, in part due to a lull in collections. He expects collection rates to improve hand in hand with the service. ?One cannot ask people to pay for bad service,? he told Hoy newspaper reporters when interviewed at the Presidential Palace.
Segura also said the people can be sure that this government is going ?to definitely resolve the power problem in the Dominican Republic.?