The anticipated news that the government would reopen negotiations on the various contracts with electricity generators and distributors became a reality yesterday, with an announcement by Ruben Montas of the Energy Commission. This is but one step in the government’s process to resolve the electric crisis that is affecting the entire population. Other steps include a government program to promote energy economizing and conservation, as well as the strengthening of the institutions that service the sector. Montas said that he has begun to investigate the question of the supposed debts that the government holds with various energy suppliers, and, if they exist, find a way to pay them. Montas also revealed that in yesterday’s meeting the President and the Energy Commission were clear on the need to improve the collection rate by the electricity distributors. Montas said that once the collection rate reached acceptable levels, the system itself would find an equilibrium. These measures go hand in hand with the US$50-million line of credit the President obtained from the local banks and the sum of US$12 million paid to Ege-Haina and Smith-Enron. Montas, the designated spokesperson for the energy cabinet, also pointed out that the subsidy for electricity would be focused, as the propane subsidy, on the poorest sectors.