Celso Marranzini, executive vice president of the Public Electricity Corporation (CDEEE) called many of the generators “tchatchkes” (an expression to denote a trinket or ornament) because of their obsolete technology and their use of expensive fuels. Of the 34 generating units that exist in the country, only 16 are usually in operation. The others are kept off line because of their high operation costs. This means 732 megawatts less for the overall system.
Of the 2,900 megawatts of installed capacity in the entire country, there are really only 2,168 available for use by the CDEEE. However, the system usually only has access to just 1,400 megawatts, on average, because some of the generators that are usually on line have been shut down for repairs or for mechanical or financial reasons.
For example, the San Felipe plant (the old Smith-Enron) is rated at 170 megawatts but is currently producing just 70 megawatts as it is undergoing a checkup.
Other generators have contracts where the state needs to pay hefty sums regardless whether they are generating or not. Such is the case of the former Cogentrix facility, now known as the Electric Company of San Pedro de Macoris. The contract for this plant built under a previous Fernandez administration and approved as a law in Congress, states that they get paid for their 300 megawatts of installed capacity whether or not they are on line, according to the Superintendent of Electricity, Francisco Mendez.