Superintendent of Power Francisco Mendez admitted to Diario Libre that since November the government has had a surplus in the fund created to compensate for the high cost of power (FET). He explained that the government is not correctly indexing the power rate and instead is charging consumers more than it should given the present inflation and exchange rate indicators. He said that the surplus is being used to pay arrears with the power distribution companies. Mendez said that in 2004 the government subsidized the power rate with RD$3.3 billion, and now that the peso has appreciated, it seeks to recover this expense by not passing on to consumers the difference.
In November, the FET account showed a favorable balance of RD$159 million, in December RD$256 million, and in January, RD$724 million are expected, even with the 5% reduction in power rates that has been announced. In February, the government expects a surplus of RD$790 million, while for March and April, a monthly surplus of RD$780 million is forecast.