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View Full Version : Celso wants to privatize the EDEs



NewsWhore
12-11-2009, 01:20 PM
Celso Marranzini, the executive vice-president of the State-owned Electricity Companies (CDEEE), is adamant that the electricity distributors should be returned to private ownership as the way for the electricity service to recover.
Marranzini, in a speech to the Herrera Industrial Association (AEIH) that is certain to make waves, said that he would also like to see more private investment in generation facilities because this would help eliminate the perception that investment in the electric sector is risky. The CDEEE has paid the generators US$488 million since August. Marranzini, a former business sector leader, spoke openly about the government policy of subsidizing electricity to the tune of US$1 billion each year, which he described as "a large sum".
He also said that the system's inefficiency was equivalent to the amount of money that comes into the country as remittances. He added that the state paid US$1.2 billion to subsidize electricity for some 200,000 poor families, equal to US$130 dollars per family per month.
The CDEEE head said that his aims included taking stricter measures against electricity theft and reducing the bureaucracy in the process of fraud detection and certification.
He pointed out that ironically the telephone companies collect US$164 million a month and the energy sector, the largest entity in the country, collects just US$118 a month when it should be collecting US$160 or US$170 million a month.

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