Power generators are trying to defend their turf, while distributors seem to have been favored by the government so far. So the generators have decided to take their case to the media, defending their contractual rights. Dominican consumers are caught in the middle, still paying some of the highest power rates in Latin America. EGE Haina, a major power generator, accuses the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of expropriating their money and illegally altering contracts by imposing Resolution 283 which they say financially penalizes generators in favor of distributors by establishing lower than market price for fuel. The generator feels that it has fulfilled its contractual obligation to make investments of US$165 million. When privatization was carried out it was known that the distributors would operate at a loss for several years until they improved the power lines and increased the number of paying clients. EGE Haina complains the distributors want more than their share of the Dominican electricity pie cutting into the generator companies turf. Instead of fulfilling their contractual obligations, the distributors have invested millions in building generating facilities, says EGE Haina. EGE Haina complains, “In reality, they are expropriating income and illegally altering contractual agreements and worse, using public funds to directly benefit the distributor companies without the least benefit for consumers.” The company points out that “if prices to the final consumer did not go down when the government implemented the so-called subsidy, how can they go up when the subsidy is removed.” But they will. The government has accepted a deal with the distributors to pass on increases of more than 20% to all consumers billed more than RD$1,500 a month for electricity. Fighting out its case, EGE Haina has embargoed the accounts of the distributors, seeking to collect on a five month old debt of RD$374 million.
