EDE says it's in 2026 that losses will begin to be reduced

The Unified Council of Distribution Companies (CUED) stated that the electricity distribution system will enter a phase of stabilization and progressive reduction of losses from 2026, supported by the operational advances achieved during 2025 and an unprecedented investment and technical-commercial control plan. The organization reported that during 2025, 65 substations were intervened in different phases of construction, repowering or adaptation, 1,163 kilometers of maintenance were carried out on distribution lines and 1,935 kilometers on underground networks, and an average of 60,939 monthly breakdowns were resolved, strengthening the operational stability of the system. In the commercial sphere, the CUED highlighted the standardization of 410,341 clients and 1,864 panels, the accumulated installation of 603,411 meters, and the reduction of 76,173 clients who were billed without a meter. These actions were complemented by the detection of 90,564 frauds in the 2024-2025 period, as well as the dismantling of 123 illegally connected transformers, with an estimated recovery of 3.82 GWh annually. In financial terms, 2025 marked a historical record in billing (RD$12,597 million in September) and collections (RD$12,188 million in October), along with improvements in productivity, increasing from 346 to 397 clients per employee between January 2024 and December 2025. "In no electrical system in the world are losses reduced immediately or by the effect of a single measure. It is a structural problem that combines technical, commercial, and cultural variables, and whose correction requires sustained investment, operational discipline, and permanent control. What we are doing now is addressing the phenomenon with an integral approach, based on data, prioritization of critical circuits, and quantifiable goals," highlighted the CUED. Based on that operational foundation, the 2026 Loss Reduction Plan establishes concrete goals for decreasing the indicator: 3.0 percentage points for Edesur, 2.5 for Edenorte, and 5.0 for Edeeste. The program includes the construction of 22 new substations and 52 repowerings, intensive network rehabilitation, expansion of remote metering, strengthening of the Telemetry Control Center (CCT), ensuring billing by zones, and systematic prosecution of electricity fraud.

By 2026, the system's consolidated investment plan contemplates an estimated Capex exceeding US$600 million, including own resources and multilateral financing, with a focus on infrastructure, technology, specialized brigades for losses, and substation modernization. "The objective is not only to contain the indicator, but to change its structural trajectory. The actions of 2025 strengthened the operational base; 2026 will be the year of inflection," indicated the CUED.

If the set goals are met, the aggregate indicator could be in a range close to 35% in the short term and continue to decrease in the following years, supported by the massive normalization of users, greater controlled energy in totalizers and expansion of telemedicine. We have strengthened the infrastructure, expanded smart metering, reorganized the loss brigades, and strengthened the pursuit of fraud. The objective is not a circumstantial result, but to stop the trend, stabilize the indicator and reduce it progressively and sustainably over time,' he emphasized.