VZCZCXYZ0016
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDG #1748/01 2011328
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 201328Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8814
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHPU/AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE 4658

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANTO DOMINGO 001748 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PASS TO ROTHSCHILD IN WHA/CAR 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/19/2017 
TAGS: ENIV ENRG DR
SUBJECT: ENERGY SECTOR POWER PLAY THREATENS INVESTMENT 
CLIMATE 
 
 
Classified By: Ellen M. Dunlap, Eco-Pol, reasons 1.4(b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: The Dominican corporation of state 
electricity enterprises (CDEEE) is currently engaged in a 
political power play to recapture greater control of the 
electricity sector.  CDEEE, which is the most powerful player 
in a fractured energy bureaucracy, has focused on both 
increasing the generation capacity within the country and 
renegotiating its power purchase agreements (PPAs) with 
existing independent power producers (IPPs).  The CDEEE views 
the construction of new generation as leverage over the 
existing IPPs to force them to renegotiate their contracts, 
but appears to be entering into precisely the type of 
contract with the new IPPs that it wishes to renegotiate with 
existing producers.  This set of circumstances has led to 
political posturing by the opposition Dominican Revolutionary 
Party (PRD), which has criticized the structure of the new 
plant deal.  Ultimately the CDEEE is failing to address what 
most experts agree is the prime source of inefficiency in the 
electricity sector, which is the distribution system (Septel 
will address distribution system problems). End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) CDEEE is engaged in final contract discussions with 
Sichuan Machinery and Equipment and Emirates Power to build 
two coal-fired power plants with an installed capacity of up 
to 1200 megawatts (MW): the first phase would involve 600MW. 
Mr. Radhames Segura, the Executive Vice President of CDEEE, 
told Econoff that in order to leverage the financing 
necessary to build these plants, CDEEE is seeking 
congressional approval of letters of credit each worth $30 
million that would be renewable on a revolving basis. 
However, this quasi-sovereign guarantee was not part of the 
original tender solicitation and has sparked concern and 
speculation among the IPPs and opposition political parties. 
 
¶3. (U) CDEEE is currently in the process of attempting to 
renegotiate all of its PPA contracts with the IPPs, including 
the U.S.-owned AES Dominicana.  AES Dominicana has debt and 
equity investments in the country totaling approximately $1.1 
billion.  It is the largest U.S. foreign investment in the 
Dominican Republic and has been operating here since 1999. 
AES' two power facilities produce roughly 38 percent of the 
Dominican Republic's electricity. 
 
¶4. (C) CDEEE has approached these renegotiations without 
coming to the table with concrete offers for how they would 
be in the interest of the IPPs.  As a result, AES Dominicana 
and the other IPPs are wary of reopening negotiations because 
they do not have a clear understanding of CDEEE's real 
intentions.  The IPPs have little assurance that all IPPs 
will be treated equally and provided with terms permitting 
them to recover their investments.  (Note: The IPPs have as 
much as US $400 million in debt, which most producers want 
paid prior to any renegotiation)  Some IPPs have flatly 
refused to enter into new negotiations. 
 
¶5. (C) CDEEE's current negotiation with Sichuan and Emirates 
is an example of how the government creates an uneven playing 
field.  While requesting that existing IPPs renegotiate to 
bring down the cost of energy for the state owned 
distribution companies, it is entering into what appears to 
be a sweetheart deal with two new IPPs by issuing revolving 
letters of credit to the companies.  Meanwhile, the 
renegotiation of the cost of energy with the IPPs is not 
expected to benefit consumers until the government's 
subsidies to the distribution companies are resolved, a 
problem not currently being fully addressed by CDEEE. 
 
¶6. (C) Mr. Roberto Herrera, the general manager of the 
Electricity Company of San Pedro de Macoris (CESPM), a 
company which is 40 percent U.S.-owned, said flatly that if 
the sovereign guarantee had been part of the original tender 
solicitation every production company in the country would 
have offered to build new generation capacity.  But he said 
that there was little reason to build so much additional 
capacity because there is currently sufficient installed 
capacity in the country to meet demand.  Although demand is 
expected to grow by up to 6 percent a year, Mr. Herrera's 
analysis adds weight to the assertion that CDEEE is seeking 
to build new capacity as leverage against existing IPPs. 
Giving some credence to the allegations of CDEEE's 
intentions, a Bear Sterns analysis of the electricity sector 
in March 2007 cited the construction of these two coal-fired 
power plants as a threat to AES' operations. 
 
¶7. (C) So far, the only IPP to have renegotiated with the 
CDEEE is the Palamara-La Vega plant which produces 187MW of 
electricity, a deal signed just last week.  The agreement 
involved an immediate payment of debt, approximately half the 
 
$32 million it is owed from the distributors, with a promise 
to pay additional debts in quotas over five months.  The 
signing of this deal is putting additional pressure on the 
other IPPs to renegotiate.  Former CEO of Palamara-La Vega 
and current senior adviser to AES Dominicana, Mr. Kevin 
Manning, told Econoff that AES has been forced to expedite is 
renegotiation counter-offer as a result of the signing, but 
hypothesized that the CDEEE is unlikely to accept the terms. 
 
Politics in the Middle 
---------------------- 
 
¶8. (U) The CDEEE's muddled efforts to resolve the problems in 
its electricity sector has transformed into a political fight 
between the ruling Democratic Liberation Party (PLD) and the 
main opposition PRD.  The PRD alleged in the newspapers and 
in a communication to the Embassy's Poloff that CDEEE and the 
PLD leadership have overvalued the contract for the Emirates 
and Sichuan plants and claimed that the letters of credit to 
Sichuan and Emirates are unnecessary.  The PRD claims the 
contracts CDEEE signed with Emirates and Sichuan, worth an 
estimated $800 million, are overvalued by as much as $270 
million based on the agreed kilowatt hour purchase price for 
electricity. 
 
¶9. (U) As a result of this political fight, the president of 
the Senate permanent commission on finances and contracts, 
Senator Tommy Galan, announced that he would convene a 
meeting between the PRD senators and the head of the CDEEE, 
Mr. Radhames Segura, to discuss the power plant contracts in 
detail and resolve any misunderstandings. 
 
¶10. (C) Comment: The head of CDEEE, Mr. Segura, was an 
opponent of the capitalization of the energy industry in the 
first Fernandez administration and reportedly has 
presidential ambitions himself.  Despite the PRD allegations, 
which were obviously politically motivated, there is still 
internal disagreement within the PLD about how to approach 
the energy sector.  CDEEE's six-year energy strategy, which 
was presented to President Fernandez late last year, has 
never been formally adopted.  Temistocles Montas, the 
Secretary of State for Economy, Planning and Development, has 
 
SIPDIS 
publicly and privately been pushing to restrain Mr. Segura 
and the CDEEE in its efforts to exert greater control over 
the sector. 
 
¶11. (SBU) The infighting is compounded by the fractured 
nature of the government's energy bureaucracy, with multiple 
agencies claiming primacy over planning and strategy. 
Ultimately, however, the real dilemma in the electricity 
sector stems from infrastructure and theft problems 
associated with the transmission and distribution systems, 
not from a lack of capacity.  Ultimately, CDEEE's efforts to 
pressure the IPPs to renegotiate their contracts threatens 
the commercial viability of the producers as well as the 
investment climate for the country. End Comment. 
BULLEN