Dominican Republic eyes energy production business

Santo Domingo.- President Danilo Medina on Wednesday sent to Congress a bill which restores the ability to invest and in and own power plants to Dominican Republic’s State-owned Electric Utility (CDEEE), which had been removed in a 1997 reform of the law.

The President, in the letter to the Senate leadership, said the initiative seeks to place the CDEEE in legal a capacity to participate in the energy-production business.

The Government awarded in December the construction of two coal-fired plants of 385 megawatts each, to be built at a cost of USS$1.9 billion to the companies Odebrecht, Tecnimont S.p.A. Once approved the plants will be owned by the State, for which the CDEEE cold enter the generation market.

As a result of the CDEEE’s capitalization the electricity Law passed in 2001, the utility was limited to regulatory functions, with the exception of hydroelectric power..