NewsWhore
07-02-2008, 05:30 PM
The Dominican Corporation of State-owned Electricity Enterprises (CDEEE) announced yesterday that it was going to focus the electricity subsidy on the poorest consumers. For consumers not in this category, this means that their electricity bills, already among the highest in the region, will be going up shortly, to reflect the added expense of rising fuel prices.
Radhames Segura, the head of the CDEEE told reporters from El Nuevo Diario that the subsidy would end for the wealthy and the middle class and even some of the poor, in order to focus on families that have received the Solidarity Card, a type of government welfare plan, that in addition to education, health and food subsidies will soon be able to be used for energy and transport expenses.
Segura added that as part of these changes, the Program to Reduce Blackouts (PRA) would also be revamped. The PRA is in place in low income neighborhoods where homes and businesses are set fixed rates of RD$200 per month or RD$700 per business. Several companies have moved into these areas to take advantage of the lower cost of power, nevertheless, which has led the government re-evaluate the program's effectiveness. According to the official, this is all part of the government's effort to alleviate the impact of higher oil prices.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#2)
Radhames Segura, the head of the CDEEE told reporters from El Nuevo Diario that the subsidy would end for the wealthy and the middle class and even some of the poor, in order to focus on families that have received the Solidarity Card, a type of government welfare plan, that in addition to education, health and food subsidies will soon be able to be used for energy and transport expenses.
Segura added that as part of these changes, the Program to Reduce Blackouts (PRA) would also be revamped. The PRA is in place in low income neighborhoods where homes and businesses are set fixed rates of RD$200 per month or RD$700 per business. Several companies have moved into these areas to take advantage of the lower cost of power, nevertheless, which has led the government re-evaluate the program's effectiveness. According to the official, this is all part of the government's effort to alleviate the impact of higher oil prices.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#2)