Leccida Rodriguez, the owner of a small pharmacy, has been through a three-year ordeal with the power distributor Edesur, not unlike those suffered by many Dominicans. According to a report in El Caribe, the woman recounts that three years ago, a brigade from Edesur paid her a visit and said they were removing her meter to replace it with a more modern one. Several months later they returned, saying her meter showed signs of fraudulent activity, whereby they disconnected her service and demanded she pay RD$100,000 in back charges. Rodriguez disputed the charges and took her claim to Protecom, the Superintendent of Power’s claims office. For nearly three years she has been operating her business with the use of a power generator that consumes five gallons of gasoline per day. Throughout this time, despite her being completely cut off from the system, she has received power bills ranging from RD$3,000 to RD$24,000 for the non-service. Her monthly bill prior to being cut off averaged RD$3,000. When El Caribe inquired about the case through Julio Cross, Superintendent of Power, he said that he would issue a resolution today, ordering Edesur to reconnect the pharmacy and instructing the company to desist from its accusations of fraud. Cross said that the Electricity Law establishes that for the power distribution companies to determine fraud, they need to do so in the presence of technicians from the Departamento de Proteccion al Consumidor (Protecom), the consumer protection department of the Superintendence. He said that Edesur has not responded to the letter Protecom sent them months ago seeking clarification of the case.