This morning, the Punta Cana – Macao Energy Consortium (CEPM) sent a statement signed by its executive director, Roberto Herrera, with the purpose of clarifying concerns and transmitting due explanations regarding the adjustment of the electricity rate made in the last month, as “show of commitment to transparency and permanent listening”, as well as the response measures that the company is taking.
Herrera contextualized the complex international scenario, which has affected the prices of fossil fuels, such as natural gas and oil, essential inputs to generate electricity that reaches homes and companies.
“Since May, the cost of oil has risen more than 25%, reaching more than $90 per barrel. Furthermore, since March of this year, the Dominican peso has depreciated more than 5%. “These changes have a direct impact on our costs,”
he argued in the letter.
However, as the executive recalled, this impact is also reflected downwards, and CEPM has been one of the few companies that, in difficult times, as occurred in the pandemic, reduced its rates by 25% when the prices of the fuels decreased.
From the purpose of continuing to accompany its customers, and also taking into account the increase in consumption that has been registered in the summer season, of more than 20%, “CEPM decided not to completely pass on this large increase in inputs and the exchange rate, adjusting the rate from 17.79 to 20.29 pesos per kWh, which represents an increase of only 14%,”
explained the executive director of CEPM.
As he recalled, ”
It is important to highlight that, unlike state distributors that receive an annual subsidy of nearly 100 billion pesos, CEPM and other isolated systems do not have that type of support from the government. Without this subsidy, EDE rates would be even higher than ours. In the following graphs you can see the comparison.”
Roberto Herrera reiterates in his words that the company’s doors are always open and they facilitated direct contact to channel any complaints, concerns or questions, and, as announced, in the coming days the company will send a follow-up communication to continue clarifying to its customers the electricity rate structure.
On the path to zero emissions
As has been announced on several occasions, CEPM is immersed in its ‘CEPM Zero’ initiative with which it plans to increase its generation from renewable sources, such as solar. By the end of 2024, 30% of its generation will be clean, which will reduce dependence on oil and contribute to making the eastern area the first zero-emission tourist destination.
One of the first milestones in this roadmap has been the development and construction of several photovoltaic projects, which total more than 200MW of power; and accompanied by the expansion of the current 110MW infrastructure and storage systems, which will also provide stability and reliability to the already robust network that this company has.
Along these lines, it is also installing photovoltaic parks for its hotel, commercial and residential clients, in its shared purpose of turning the eastern part of the country into a sustainable development model of global reference.