The Asociación de Industrias y Empresas de Haina, a leading national industrial association, denounced that the unilateral practice of the power distributors to charge based on average consumption and not on real consumption is affecting the profitability of industries. Spokesmen for the organization, Richard Arostegui and Elvin Mella said that many industries have cyclical operations and should not be forced to pay based on averages. He says that there are cases of companies that have closed down for a month and the bill for that month has arrived higher than the previous month. Mella explained in Hoy newspaper, "The way that they are billing for power is that if the previous month consumption is less, then they bill taking into consideration the prior three months." Mella says that then if the company gives collective vacations to its employees and suspends operations, even if real consumption drops considerably this will not be reflected in the bill. Mella says that they investigated this visiting the EDE-Sur office in the Centro de los Héroes and checking the manual confirmed this company practice that increases the profitability of the power distributors at the expense of Dominican companies. Mella urged that the EDE-Sur handbook be revised so as not to continue affecting local industries. Arostegui pointed out that the cost of electricity in the Dominican Republic continues to be higher than other regional countries, which makes it difficult for Dominican companies to be competitive. Because privatization went through without the backbone of a general electricity law, the private companies have been given extraordinary leeway in setting their terms at the expense of consumers.
