A focus on the electricity subsidy

[NewsWhore]

Superintendent of Electricity Francisco Mendez says electricity rates may have to go up. He says the higher costs and the rising subsidies to those who do not pay for the service are not sustainable by the government. He said that costs have quadrupled while the electricity rates have stayed the same. According to Mendez, the projected deficit in the energy sector is expected to be US$1.1 billion or RD$37 billion, while the amount budgeted for the subsidy in the electric sector is just US$650 million, plus some US$250 more from other sources. He spoke of a shortfall of US$200 million that the Superintendence of Electricity has to find through savings and lowering of costs, but if this is not possible, then the electricity rates will have to go up. The Superintendence plans to focus the subsidy only on the Program to Reduce Blackouts (PRA), joint purchases of fuels, and a renegotiation of the clauses of indexation that are onerous.

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