DR1: EDEs should pay for outages

Law 125-01 on electricity states that since 1 January 2003, electricity service users should have received compensation for power outages from the electricity distribution companies equivalent to 150% of the energy not provided, as reported by Listin Diario. However, Superintendent of Electricity Francisco Mendez, who is in charge of enforcing this law, stated that the companies are not capable of paying users as their collections only cover half of the energy served. According to Mendez, nobody is forced to do something that is impossible, and the EDEs do not have enough money to pay for the energy they buy from the generators. The law also indicates that if service is disconnected based on non-payment of bills, and the user has the documentation that proves that he does not owe any money, companies must pay the user three times the value used by the company to disconnect the service for damage caused.