No more blackouts... in 2012

[NewsWhore]

The Dominican government has revealed what it is calling "The Integrated Plan for the Electric Sector" during a seminar at the Metro Country Club in Juan Dolio. The idea of the plan is to end all blackouts by 2012 and reduce the cost of electricity by 46%. With President Leonel Fernandez looking on, members of the Committee for the Recovery of the Electricity System show just how the nation could achieve reliable electricity in just six years. Representatives from all of the main industrial and commercial sectors were present as CDEEE administrator Radhames Segura explained how the electricity rates currently pegged at 25.8 cents of a dollar per kilowatt/hour would fall to 13.8 cents by 2012. Much of the plan revolves round reducing the use of petroleum-based fuels, with the possible exception of natural gas. Huge external financing would be needed, but no figures were revealed. The two coal-fired units were again mentioned although nothing has been started and no money deposited as a performance bond, in contractual violation. A key factor for lowering the price of electricity and obtaining reliability will be the renegotiation of the existing contracts with the IPPs. Another hypothesis called for a stable dollar-peso relationship over the coming years as well as a stable Consumer Price Index in order to achieve the aims set forth. In a somewhat confusing note, Diario Libre reports that the National Inter-connected Electricity System has just completed one year without any nation-wide blackouts.

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