NewsWhore
11-19-2008, 03:30 PM
Losses in revenue due to stolen or non-invoiced energy between January and August totaled RD$12.7 billion (US$371 million), which is three times the government subsidy for the Blackout Reduction Program (PRA). A study by the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development also revealed that 47 out of every 100 homes do not have an energy meter. The report indicates that 87.3% of the energy produced during this period was distributed to households not part of the PRA program. In the commercial sector only 66.5% of energy was invoiced, the remaining 33.5% was stolen and therefore not invoiced. According to the 2007 ENIGH study, 2.44 million homes were connected to the national energy grid, but only 33.2% (809,600) had energy meters and 1,157,000 had no way of measuring their energy consumption. The government has received numerous offers of pre-paid power programs from abroad that would eradicate the practice, but has preferred to continue with subsidizing the power distributors for the power not invoiced.
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More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#9)