Superintendent of Power Julio Cross told El Caribe that as of this month users should begin to receive credits on their bills for hours of blackouts suffered. He said that the Superintendence has installed a system called ?escada? that permits it to determine the origin and cause of a blackout. Cross also says that power distributors, who he described as ?quick to collect on bills and slow to pay their own bills?, will be obliged to render three hours of power for every hour of blackout served without due justification.
With the enormous debts they have accumulated with the power generation companies, the Superintendent of Power has been very critical of the operations of the Spanish company. Cross complains that of the debts the power distributors claim they have amassed, 50 percent is owed to their strategic partners. He said while the practice of borrowing at hyped interest rates from themselves may be legal, it is in no way ethical. By comparison, Cross said that AES Edeeste, which holds the other third of the power distribution market, has been paying its bills with the power generation companies in a timely fashion.
