What are Edenorte's legal responsibilities?

[NotLurking]

Originally Posted by Castellamonte

I have a ranch in Abreu where there is no electricity at all. So I installed 9 concrete electrical poles (expensive) to get the power to the property (and my neighbors). I got the specifications for the electrical cable and had it installed as well (real expensive). I then installed a 25Kw transformer on the nearest concrete pole.

By law you have a right to be supplied electricity if you request it:

Law 125-01 Art. 93 modified by law #186-07 Art 3.
ARTÍCULO 93.- Las Empresas Distribuidoras de Servicio Público de Electricidad, estarán obligadas a ofrecer servicio a quien lo solicite, dentro de los plazos y condiciones que serán establecidos en el Reglamento, así como también a permitir que otra empresa alimente a clientes no sujetos a regulación de precios en dicha zona, pagando a las Empresas Distribuidoras, por la utilización de sus líneas, los peajes correspondientes.
My emphasis

It is considered fraud under the law to hook up to the power system yourself without a previous contract for service save for an imputable fault of the Distributor.

Law 125-01 Art. 125 modified by law #186-07 Art 6.
ARTÍCULO 125.- Será acusado de fraude eléctrico, el que intencionalmente sustraiga, o se apropie de energía eléctrica, para su propio beneficio o el de terceros, mediante uno cualquiera de los siguientes medios:
...
c) Conexión directa al sistema de suministro de energía eléctrica, sin que haya un contrato previo de servicio con la empresa distribuidora, salvo falta imputable a la distribuidora;

However, failure of the distributors to provide service after it has been requested by a user is an imputable fault of the distributor.

Law 125-01 Art. 126 modified by law #186-07 Art 7.
ARTÍCULO 126.- Los generadores, la Empresa de Transmisión, distribuidores, comercializadores, autos productores, cogeneradores y los usuarios no regulados serán responsables por las faltas tipificadas en la presente disposición. Cada falta será manejada de manera independiente aun cuando tenga un origen común.

“ARTÍCULO 126-1.- Se clasifican como faltas muy graves, las que ponen en grave riesgo la estabilidad, seguridad y confiabilidad del SENI y las que afecten de manera sistemática y deliberada la continuidad y calidad del servicio. En particular las siguientes:
...
g) La negativa a suministrar energía eléctrica a nuevos usuarios, sin que existan razones que lo justifiquen;

You do have legal recourse but your milage will vary

Originally Posted by Castellamonte

An interesting system, eh?

Yes indeed!

NotLurking

[track]

WindyGuy, what part of POP are you at?

Did you said you are neer a 24/7 circuit?

I will try to give some some info.

[NotLurking]

Originally Posted by windeguy

We need to find out what exactly are the legal responsibilities of Edenorte in our situation which I describe below:

Our neighborhood is one that was built by a developer over 10 years ago, it has a new section that was added starting only two years ago. There is currently no active management by the developers in our project and there is no community organization. What are the responsibilities of Edenorte in such an area?

All electrical distributors are required by law to provide service when requested

Law 125-01 Art. 93 modified by law #186-07 Art 3

ARTÍCULO 93.- Las Empresas Distribuidoras de Servicio Público de Electricidad, estarán obligadas a ofrecer servicio a quien lo solicite, dentro de los plazos y condiciones que serán establecidos en el Reglamento, así como también a permitir que otra empresa alimente a clientes no sujetos a regulación de precios en dicha zona, pagando a las Empresas Distribuidoras, por la utilización de sus líneas, los peajes correspondientes.

Originally Posted by windeguy

My specific questions at this moment are:

1) Is Edenorte responsible for maintaining the electrical wiring in the street including the power poles, the wires on the power poles , the underground wires up to and including the power meters?

All electrical distributors are responsible for maintaining their equipment, transmission lines, wires and meters.

Law 125-01 Art. 91 modified by law #186-07 Art 3
ARTÍCULO 91.- Es deber de toda empresa eléctrica y de los propietarios de instalaciones de generación, transmisión y distribución cumplir con las condiciones de calidad, seguridad y continuidad del servicio, y preservación del medio ambiente. Su incumplimiento estará sujeto a sanciones y en casos graves y reiterados, a la intervención provisional de la empresa por la Superintendencia, con cargo al propietario, hasta que sea solucionada la causa de incumplimiento.”

Law 125-01 Art. 92
Art. 92.- Las empresas generadoras y aquellas de transmisión de electricidad que operen en un sistema interconectado, estarán obligadas a operar y efectuar el mantenimiento de sus instalaciones, de acuerdo con las decisiones que adopte el Organismo Coordinador y a prestar su colaboración para que éste cumpla las funciones establecidas en la presente ley y su reglamento.

Originally Posted by windeguy

2) Is Edenorte responsible for maintaining and/or replacing transformers supplying power to several houses?

Yes, by virtue of Law 125-01 Art 92 quoted above. Note however that all wires and meters AFTER the distributor's supplied meter is the responsibility of the user.

Law 125-01 Art. 94

Art. 94.- Las instalaciones particulares de cada suministro deberán iniciarse en el punto de entrega de la electricidad por el concesionario, siendo a cargo del usuario su proyecto, ejecución, operación y mantenimiento. El punto de entrega para los usuarios de servicio público deberá ser posterior al equipo de medición, el cual será propiedad de la empresa de distribución y su costo se considerará en el valor agregado de distribución para los efectos tarifarios.

Párrafo.- Se faculta a los usuarios del servicio eléctrico que así lo deseen, a instalar sus propios equipos de medición en el interior de su propiedad para que el valor facturado pueda ser comparado con el de la empresa distribuidora.

Originally Posted by windeguy

3) We are near a circuit with 24/7 power, if we have a development where everyone pays their bills, why won't Edenorte hook us up to that circuit?

I don't know the answer to this. I'll check to see if I can find some regulation that addresses this.

Originally Posted by windeguy

4) Where are the laws regarding such issues to be found?

Here are links to laws 125-01 & 186-07 in PDF format
Law 125-01

Law 186-07

NotLurking
Disclaimer:- I'm not a lawyer nor do I presume to be.

[track]

Notlurking,

2) Is EdeNorte responsible for maintaining and/or replacing transformers supplying power to several houses?

I don't know about what the legal documents. But I do understand several things. The transmission lines and generation are "not a responsibility of the distributor" But I think their is a catch to that. The transmission lines for CDEE are very high voltage, (375KV, 138KV, 69KV and 34KV) The mid transmission lines are for the distributor ( EdeNorte, EdeSur, EdeEste, AES, etc).

But, to my understanding if the the mid power transformers are in a private property, ie. private club, company, etc. it's up to them to maintain the transformers and the power lines. The power will be measure at the mid power lines on the entrance of the property. They are not responsible from that point on.

Another point is that at this point, CDEEE will "fine them" if they are not providing at least 18 hours of power per day. Total black out per day can nor exceed 6 hours with out justification. "Yeah, right" they will justify a falling star if they have to.

[NotLurking]

Originally Posted by track

2) Is EdeNorte responsible for maintaining and/or replacing transformers supplying power to several houses?

track, the assumption here is that the transformers referred to in the question are on public property and therefore the responsibility of the distributors.

Originally Posted by track

I don't know about what the legal documents. But I do understand several things. The transmission lines and generation are "not a responsibility of the distributor" But I think their is a catch to that. The transmission lines for CDEE are very high voltage, (375KV, 138KV, 69KV and 34KV) The mid transmission lines are for the distributor ( EdeNorte, EdeSur, EdeEste, AES, etc).

The law makes no such distinctions and applies equally to any and all companies operating in the interconnected electrical system for the purpose of providing service. Perhaps, the misunderstanding stems from my usage of the word 'distributor' as a generic term to mean all companies involved in the provisioning of electricity to the end user? If so, I apologize.

Originally Posted by track

But, to my understanding if the the mid power transformers are in a private property, ie. private club, company, etc. it's up to them to maintain the transformers and the power lines. The power will be measure at the mid power lines on the entrance of the property. They are not responsible from that point on.

Your are correct here and I made note of it in my privious post

Originally Posted by NotLurking

Yes, by virtue of Law 125-01 Art 92 quoted above. Note however that all wires and meters AFTER the distributor's supplied meter is the responsibility of the user.

I think I should have been a bit more clear and included the word transformer in my above quoted post. Please have a look at Law 125-01 Art. 92 & 94.

Originally Posted by track

Another point is that at this point, CDEEE will "fine them" if they are not providing at least 18 hours of power per day. Total black out per day can nor exceed 6 hours with out justification. "Yeah, right" they will justify a falling star if they have to.

Well yes they should be fined and I've read the law and the law does provide for sanctions for providing inadequate service. I'll get back to you on this point when I do a bit more research.


NotLurking

[track]

Originally Posted by NotLurking

The law makes no such distinctions and applies equally to any and all companies operating in the interconnected electrical system for the purpose of providing service. Perhaps, the misunderstanding stems from my usage of the word 'distributor' as a generic term to mean all companies involved in the provisioning of electricity to the end user? If so, I apologize.

But, I know this for a fact. If it's not a law then they are doing what they want. This is a summary of of the business works.

The generator sells to CDEEE, the power they produce are measure by power meters, One for CDEEE and another for the Generator. Every month the Generator makes a Bill to CDEEE based on the power produced. Next the power is transmitted to substation where again they have power meters ( Two meters EdeNorte and CDEEE ). Every month CDEEE will bill the distributor, in this case EdeNorte. From that point on, it's all up to EtherNorte. BUT.. Not really, CDEEE or some other institution from the government have to help out EdeNorte for the looses.

At some other point, This is where it gets mixed up. If you consume more than 2 Mega watts you can bypass the Distributor and "Buy from the Generator". But the Distributor is the one responsible for maintaining the mid power lines. ( I think that was the case of Acropolis in SDQ ).

Let me get to the point, if WindyGuy is next to a 24/7 circuit and they have a private community, or Hotel complex and consume more than 2 Mega Watts, they can bypass EdeNorte and buy direct from "any Generator". If at the end of the month they consume 1.5 or less they will be billed for 2 Mega Watts.

If it's not on the law, this is how the business really works, plus / minus some details.

NotLurking, I do understand the position you are in, but DR has lots of laws that in reality are not applied, like for example the Gas price law thing.
For the record I'm not a lawyer!

[NotLurking]

track, I don't know what exactly is confusing to you with respect to the law as it relates to maintance of the equipment used by all the companies involved in the eletricity system. I'll quote the law again, highlight and translate the pertinant sections.

Law 125-01 Art. 91 modified by law #186-07 Art 3
ARTÍCULO 91.- Es deber de toda empresa eléctrica y de los propietarios de instalaciones de generación, transmisión y distribución cumplir con las condiciones de calidad, seguridad y continuidad del servicio, y preservación del medio ambiente. Su incumplimiento estará sujeto a sanciones y en casos graves y reiterados, a la intervención provisional de la empresa por la Superintendencia, con cargo al propietario, hasta que sea solucionada la causa de incumplimiento.

As you can see Art. 91 is quite clear it state:
It is the duty of all electric companies and of the owners of installations of generation, transmission and distribution to fulfill conditions of quality, security and continuity of the service and preserve the environment.

How can any company that doesn't maintain it's equpment comply with Art. 91 of the law? But that is not all and the law is more clear and direct as stated in Art. 92:

Law 125-01 Art. 92
Art. 92.- Las empresas generadoras y aquellas de transmisión de electricidad que operen en un sistema interconectado, estarán obligadas a operar y efectuar el mantenimiento de sus instalaciones, de acuerdo con las decisiones que adopte el Organismo Coordinador y a prestar su colaboración para que éste cumpla las funciones establecidas en la presente ley y su reglamento.

The generator companies and those of transmission of eletricity that operate in an interconneced system will be forced to operate and carry out maintance of their installations,...

The overview you gave in your previous post is in accordance with the law. Specifically, with Art 108 with two exceptions:

1. that the point at which a user is considered regulate or unregulated has changed from 2 megawatts to 1.3 megawatts for 2008. Any user considered unregulated can opt to buy directly from generator of their choice as stated in Art 108 paragraph I.
2. in no case will it be considered as an unregulated user the group of final users in a commercial malls, residences and condominiums except free trade zones as state in Art. 108 paragraph IV.

Law 125-01 Art. 108 modified by law #186-07 Art 5
ARTÍCULO 108.- Estarán sujetos a regulación las siguientes tarifas:
...
“PÁRRAFO I.- La potencia máxima para cliente o usuario de servicio público de electricidad se establece en menos de 1.4 megavatios y para Usuarios No Regulados se establece en 1.4 megavatios o más, para el año 2007; 1.3 megavatios o más para el año 2008; 1.2 megavatios o más para el año 2009; 1.1 megavatios o más para el año 2010, y 1 megavatio a más para el año 2011 y siguientes.
“PÁRRAFO II.- Los usuarios que sean autorizados para ejercer la condición de usuario no regulado deberán pagar una contribución por servicio técnico del sistema equivalente al diez por ciento (10%) del precio de energía y potencia contratado, sin perjuicio de los cargos por uso de facilidades de Transmisión y/o Distribución, según corresponda.
“PÁRRAFO III.- La valoración de dicha contribución será pagada mensualmente por los Generadores que tengan contratos de suministros con Usuarios No Regulados (UNR), de acuerdo al cálculo que realice la Superintendencia de Electricidad para tales fines. Dicha contribución será transferida a los clientes regulados, vía la estructura tarifaria. El procedimiento para la transferencia de la citada contribución será establecido mediante Resolución que a tales fines dicte la Superintendencia de Electricidad.
“PÁRRAFO IV.- En ningún caso se considerará como Usuario No Regulado a la agrupación de usuarios finales en plazas comerciales, residenciales y condominios, exceptuando las Zonas Francas, las cuales operan en régimen especial de competencia.
“PÁRRAFO V.- Los Usuarios No Regulados (UNR) deberán cumplir con todos los requisitos técnicos y de operación previstos en la presente Ley y su Reglamento, exigidos a los agentes del MEM, en la medida que les sean aplicables.”

Please not that Law 125-01 Art. 108 was modified by law #186-07 Art 5 recently (2007)

NotLurking

[windeguy]

Originally Posted by track

WindyGuy, what part of POP are you at?

Did you said you are neer a 24/7 circuit?

I will try to give some some info.

Track, Any info you could supply would be great. Thanks.

We are actually just across from the west end of Kite Beach. There is a 24/7 circuit that runs up, I think , to the Kite Hotels and stops well before Encuentro beach's entrance, as I understand it.

We are between Encuentro and the center of Kite Beach . One Edenorte representative told that our development was considered for 24/7 power but that there would need to be upgraded wiring and a cut-off switch installed prior to 24 /7 being possible. Sounds to me that Edenorte should be making those improvements for it's paying customers.

I understand Edenorte did this in ProCab.

[track]

NotLurking,
I'm learning a lot from you, and I do apreciate you sharing information.

You did answer the question. This could be the confusion. It was to my beleive that WindyGuy was living on a private village or something. I then assumed that if a Hotel can buy direct from the Generator a private village or club, ( A Mall ) could do the same. I was wrong, and I assumed again, but I do remember that Acropolis was buying direct and owed CDEEE, EdeSur or a Generator more than $200 Million pesos or something. But I do have a bad memory.

From the information you provide ( WindyGuy ) private Village can not do any negotiation with anybody but EdeNorte.

Looks like WindyGuy has to wait and see what EdeNorte will do. I would still like to know the area he's at.

[track]

Originally Posted by windeguy

Track, Any info you could supply would be great. Thanks.

We are actually just across from the west end of Kite Beach. There is a 24/7 circuit that runs up, I think , to the Kite Hotels and stops well before Encuentro beach's entrance, as I understand it.

We are between Encuentro and the center of Kite Beach . One Edenorte representative told that our development was considered for 24/7 power but that there would need to be upgraded wiring and a cut-off switch installed prior to 24 /7 being possible. Sounds to me that Edenorte should be making those improvements for it's paying customers.

I understand Edenorte did this in ProCab.

WindyGuy, Kite beach is next to Cabarete the power you received comes from the New SubStation of Cabarete.

Are you the one with the Wind Generator Next to the beach?

I this correct?