Spanish
Santo Domingo.- The president of the Unified Council of Electricity Distribution Companies (CUED), Celso Marranzini, spoke about the current situation of the national electrical system, highlighting advances in the reduction of losses and improvements in management, although he acknowledged that there are still challenges to overcome.
Marranzini explained that the practice of cutting off the electricity service in sectors that do not pay for electricity was an “experiment” that yielded positive results, but that had to be suspended due to its side effects.
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“It definitely worked well because they were sectors that didn't pay for energy and that reduced losses. But that system had a problem, in those sectors there were also people who did pay. That's the unfair part, that's why we suspended it,” he indicated.
Instead, distributors are now implementing a more focused interruption system, aimed at direct circuits, and efforts to formalize illegal customers continue.
“What has been the result? More clients have been created, there has been more duration. That is a process. Losses do not decrease overnight, but things are definitely improving,” said Marranzini.
The head of CUED stated that currently the distribution companies are better organized and no longer face the material shortage problems that previously affected them. However, he warned about contractors who won bids and have not yet started operations.
“If they don't come in the next few days, we will cancel their contracts,” he warned.
Marranzini assured that the Dominican electrical system is in a completely stable state and supported his statement by citing a recent survey that reveals that only 0.5% of Dominicans are concerned about the electrical issue.
“While there are countries that have complete blackouts, we don't,” he said.
However, he acknowledged that the cost of maintaining the stability of the service falls in part on the State, due to the large number of users who do not pay for the electricity service.
“That's not even a subsidy, because they are people who don't pay. The State has to cover that difference,” he explained.
Finally, he detailed the current loss figures by region: EDENORTE with 20%, EDESUR with 28% and EDEESTE with 54%.
