If you think that power loss at your house is bad, consider this. Apparently, the electricity distribution companies lose 30.8% of the electricity they purchase from the generators right off the top. Figures show that on average the distributors bill for only 69.2% of the power they buy. Add this to the fact that they only collect on average 85% of what they bill to consumers and you have total losses of 41.6%. This from a report published by the Dominican Conglomerate of Electrical Companies (CDEEE).

The report states that while EdeEste bills the most for energy it is also the one that collects the least. Billing 79.6% of the energy they buy, they only collect on average 75.7% of those billings. On the other hand Edenorte collects 85% and EdeSur collect 95% of billings.

While this does not appear to be good news, it is in fact, an improvement over past years. The cash recovery index to January 2007 for Edenorte, Edesur and EdeEste is 58.4% compared to 47.7% January 2006 and 48.2% January 2005. The government subsidized the distributors to the tune of US$545 million in 2006. They only expect to subsidize US$400 million for 2007.