Superpowers to Power Superintendent

[NewsWhore]

In today's Hoy newspaper the economic editor Mario Mendez highlights the fact that as drafted, the bill to modify the Electricity Law grants the Superintendent of Electricity full powers to override the law, including the right to make changes to the power rates. Article 17 of the bill that seeks to modify Art. 30 of the current Electricity Law, establishes that the Electricity Superintendence will be able to resort reasonably to legal, administrative and technical measures that it considers necessary for public safety and to safeguard the power companies' rights. The business sector is also debating the fact that the bill aims to oblige large companies to pay a surcharge for access to power outside the distributor's availability, an exception that was previously exempt from charges. Being able to access lower cost power has been the difference between collapse and being in business for many companies, given the exorbitantly high power rates for industry in the DR.
Business sectors are also critical of the fact that the government plans to subsidize consumers of less than 300 kWh, with the high fees that clients using more than 1,000 kWh per month will be charged. Anyone using an air-conditioner is likely to run into the range of 1,000 kWh per month.
"In other words, the government is the good guys that subsidize those consumers, while the users of more than 1,000kWh are the bad guys, who have to be penalized by paying that subsidy," reports today's Hoy.

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