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EdeSur and electrical billing issues

lmclmf2009
Has anyone else been experiencing REDICULOUS increases in their electricity usage?  When covid began, out of nowhere my electricity doubled and the excuse I was given was it is because I am home more often now so I probably didn't notice that my usage has changed. This is absurd because NOTHING in my life changed.  We have always spent most of the day at home (if not all, except Saturday which is our errand day) because we work and school at home.  Then midway through covid, we moved to another house in a different area (more exclusive) and my bill again doubled from the other house and this was a more efficient home.  I challenged each and every bill and every time they said the meter is fine and demanded payment.  We went to the SUpertendencia who never sent anyone and they did nothing about the claim.  Now, we moved again (in the same community just a few blocks away) and my electric bill increased by more than 4,000 pesos.  In this house we turn the pump off except when showering, I do less laundry and cooking (because I can now bbq), and I even run the fans and a/c less because we have more windows and no house next door so we get a breeze.  Recently they sent me an email claiming I have a smart meter that they can read electronically (haha- the meter looks like it came from ancient times) and they send me emails daily. This month the bill is an additional 2,300 pesos more than last month which is comical due to all of the country-wide and locally scheduled outages for hours at a time.  When I check my usage as they "claim" it to be somehow my usage on Saturday when I am out from about 9 am until 10 pm in the evening is just as high or higher than my Friday usage when I work a double shift.  Again, I have filed a claim but again, they claim nothing is wrong.  There is NO WAY I am using the amount of electricity the claim which was also verified by the 2 electricians we have had come into the house to check everything out.  I actually use less than what I did when my bill was 4,100 pesos and now I am at 14,000 pesos.  (we have newer appliances and everything has an inverter option)



Any suggestions on how I can get this rectified?  I cannot keep paying this amount.
See also
LT American

@lmclmf2009 good morning. I am in Las Terrenas on the beach so I have a nice breeze. But I did turn my AC for about 15 minutes 1 time during the billing cycle. 1 Time.  My electric bill increased by 80%.  We are billed 14.9 DOP per kWh....I have to think that there is something wrong with the electrical in my apartment.   Nothing else changed in my lifestyle

DominicanadaMike
Connections are a common problem in this country.  Check all of the connections in your breaker cabinet.  Loose connections cost money.  Especially if the breakers to units like AC, refrigerators, freezers have bad connections.  Try this first.  It's good maintenance and relatively inexpensive.  Then check that your AC is not cranked to 16 degrees.  Keep it reasonable 23-26 range.  Same with refrigerators, keep them on the lower side (3) or they start to freeze up and then are running constantly because they can't acquire the the temperature of your setting.

Then, change your lights to LED although I think everyone knows that by now.

The electric companies here are useless when it comes to service.
planner
In addition check no one else is on your line.  Turn off ALL your breakers, everything. Take a photo of your meter. Go away for 2 or 3 hours. Come home and take a photo of your meter!  Now you know if something else is stealing your electricity!
Karin1
Hello

I too have a similar situation and not sure what to do about it.  I am in Cap Cana just near the Punta Cana airport.  The energy company is called Cap Cana Caribe.

I made changes to reduce my consumption (similar to you), and still the bill comes with more usage and the consumption and rates keep increasing. Current rate is now 22.8cents/kw!  I feel they are stealing and there is nothing I know that can be done short of getting my own supply through solar which is not possible in a rental. 

They sent someone to look (i assume for loose connections and maybe someone else using my power on the same meter) and they stated that my refrigerator, a/c and hot water heater are old and are the source of the problem, and these must be replaced.  I am renting, so I cannot do that.   I might just move into another place where all these factors will be considered, including what direction the sun comes and how much direct sun you get.  This is going to cost me 2 months rent by breaking the lease but it might be worth the cost over the long run given the ridiculous electricity rates.  Last Sept I was paying 14.3 in another apartment with CEPM in Bavaro.

Well, thats how it is and if you cant beat them, leave and dont make the same mistake twice!
DominicanadaMike
Hi Karin.  You can troubleshoot your own problems a little bit.  Start with turning all of your breakers off.  Go and read your meter.  Wait a few hours and then go and check your meter and read it again.  There should be no change.  If there is a change then someone else is using your energy and it could easily be the common areas in the building.  Happens often.  If your reading is the same then go and turn on your refrigerator.  Let that run for a few hours and check your reading.  To get an idea of the consumption, track the exact time that you took each reading.  Take the higher reading and subtract the lower reading.  This will give you the number of kilowatts you have consumed.  Then take this number and divide it by the time in hours (i.e. 3 hours)  Total divided by 3 will give you the kilowatts per hour (kwh) for your refrigerator.  You can do this with any other circuit (AC) that you want to check.  Once you have the kwh for each circuit, then estimate the number of hours (refrigerator=24) (AC only the number of hours you have each one of them on) you use each of these circuits and then add them all together.  That will give you your kilowatt hours per day.  I would expect it to be between 5-10 KWH per day or 150-300 per month.  If this is the case, the issue is just that the price is high (which it is).  Adjust your usage where you can.  If all else fails I have an apartment for rent...1f923.svg1f923.svg1f923.svg
Karin1
Well I thank you very much for this info.  Your very nice, much appreciated.1f917.svg
planner
Excellent info!   
The electric supplier usually does not care at all about someone stealing from you and won't investigate that.  You have to hire someone. And as laid out above fairly easy to check! 

Electric rates are going up with the EDE groups. Private suppliers are already high!
lmclmf2009
@LT American

I am paying that rate as well which is outrageous.  I have PRODECOM coming today to investigate.  Somehow on Friday and Saturday while we were out all day I had double my weekday usage while I was home all day (including cooking and doing laundry).  I hope they can help resolve this.  There is no way I spent 4000 for 5 years then covid came and the bill double to between 8500 and 9500 and then I hit 10,000 for a few months and now I am nearly 16,000 all of a sudden when nothing has changed.  It is just a disgrace what they are permitted to get away with here in the country.
lmclmf2009
Connections are a common problem in this country.  Check all of the connections in your breaker cabinet.  Loose connections cost money.  Especially if the breakers to units like AC, refrigerators, freezers have bad connections.  Try this first.  It's good maintenance and relatively inexpensive.  Then check that your AC is not cranked to 16 degrees.  Keep it reasonable 23-26 range.  Same with refrigerators, keep them on the lower side (3) or they start to freeze up and then are running constantly because they can't acquire the the temperature of your setting.

Then, change your lights to LED although I think everyone knows that by now.

The electric companies here are useless when it comes to service.
- @DominicanadaMike


Thanks.  I will definitely keep these suggestions in mind and I plan to check the fridge today and adjust that setting if needed.  All of our appliances have an inverter and they are within  1-3 years old.  I admit, we put the A/C on to 16 only for about 10 minutes to cool off the room and either adjust it higher on really hot nights or turn it off and only turn it back on if needed.  We have also had 2 electricians come out to the house to check everything out and they said things are connected and running well.  What I don't understand is the sudden huge increase in the bill.  I have always had the same bill within a few hundred pesos or so, but NEVER an increase by thousands like this.  It has become unaffordable and at this rate perhaps something we cannot afford to pay any longer.  I am not sure if there is even another option.
lmclmf2009
@DominicanadaMike

Thank you so much for your time and responses.  YOu have excellent tips and I am sure they will be helpful to me and several others who may read this chat.
DominicanadaMike
Just a tip; your temperature control on your AC is just a temperature sensitive switch.  In this climate, 16 degrees means ON all the time because it will never get down to 16.  Setting your AC at a comfortable temperature (23-26) simply means the AC unit will keep running until it reaches your temperature setting.  After that the AC part will turn off and will come back on as soon as the temperature is higher than your setting.  Finding that temperature sweet spot will save you tons of money!
DominicanadaMike
@lmclmf2009:  The most important thing, establish that it is you that is using the electricity.  Turn off all of your breakers for a couple of hours or so.  Different times of the day will also be good to try as if your electricity is being used by the building it may only occur when the lighting comes on.  I have had plenty of opportunity to turn my electricity off for days at a time making this check literally fool proof.

As a check, take your meter reading at the time you turn off the breakers and again just before you turn them back on.  The reading should be identical each time.

Cheers,
planner
I just did this last week  to show that no one was stealing my power. The  issue is after the meter in my case!
DominicanadaMike
@planner - what is your issue?  what steps are you taking?
planner
My bill is what too high for likely a few reasons. When out of the apt for 4 days I was using 11 kWh per day!  Should not be that high.

First step turn off all breakers and check meter.  No movement.  Next I turned off various appliances for a couple of days.  It appears two appliances included in my lease are culprits.  They will be replaced. 

Also have an electrician coming in to check what is connected on my side of my meter!  We just asked  edesur to change the meter as well. I live. In an older building and the meter is very old.
Tippj
I just did this last week  to show that no one was stealing my power. The  issue is after the meter in my case!
- @planner
          Try turning your breakers off at night
          And see if anything in the common area’s   Gets turned off  , sometimes an electrician will fix something for the building with any wire he finds available  , and it could ( ? )  be yours
planner
I did the test. Lights are always on here.
DominicanadaMike
There are so many different situations in this country it can be difficult to diagnose.  Your meter could be on your building or 1/2 way down the street!  Lots can happen when others have access to your side of the meter... Apartment buildings are just horrendous in some cases...but the steps I listed above should help you break down the problem.  In the end, if you have a rental property some things are beyond your control and if that's the case it's time to find a new place to live. 

Looks like you are on the right path Planner!
planner
I have dealt with this a few times. one step at a time and rule things out or in!  Thats the process.
Guest2022
Residential electricity rate will rise 9% from July

Residential customers will have an adjustment of RD$115.03, on average, from 0 to 300 kWh

Government will subsidize with RD$2,426.73 to avoid applying the real adjustment that should have been established


Starting tomorrow, the Government will adjust the electricity rate again . It will be 9% for residential customers who consume up to 300 kWh and 7.6% for small businesses, which together represent around 80% of users regulated by electricity distribution companies.

The measure is part of the gradual and quarterly dismantling of the electricity subsidy with a view to 2026.

In monetary terms, for residential customers who consume between 0 and 300 kilowatt hours, the adjustment means an increase, on average, of 115.03 pesos compared to the rate established in the quarter that ends today, reported the Superintendence of Electricity (SIE) .

Although the adjustment impacts family finances, the SIE indicated that it should have been higher: between 12 and 30% for residential customers, taking into account the current high prices of fuels and commodities. ........................

At a general level, since the real adjustment is not applied in cases where the increase should have been greater, the Government must assume a monthly subsidy of 2,426.73 million pesos for the next three months.

For the April-June quarter, the real adjustment was not applied either. For that period, the SIE increased the electricity rate for residential customers in general by 10.4%, however, the reality, given international fuel prices, is that it should have been 26.6%, explained the SIE. 

The subsidy that should have been 1,683.53 million pesos per month at that time was calculated at 2,194.26 million pesos........................................
Karin1
@lmclmf2009

Hello

This is something that is very difficult to understand, how things are very far from perfect here.  Surely something is wrong and someone is responsible for using the electricity that  you are paying for now.  Yes, rates are alot higher now but not more than double.  And both you and I  are reducing consumption (I have learned to live with AC at 26!), because of the high bills.  If we can all get inexpensive solar panels and batteries or generators to hold onto some of that power when we need it, then we could solve a major problem for everyone (and give electricity to the poorer population too).   Nothing wrong with fantasy.  1f601.svg

planner
Fantasy works honey!
Tippj
Wait till the beginning of next year when the energy companies are spitting out all the high price oil to feed the consumption of energy in the tourist season that might not happen
windeguy
@lmclmf2009

Hello

This is something that is very difficult to understand, how things are very far from perfect here.  Surely something is wrong and someone is responsible for using the electricity that  you are paying for now.  Yes, rates are alot higher now but not more than double.  And both you and I  are reducing consumption (I have learned to live with AC at 26!), because of the high bills.  If we can all get inexpensive solar panels and batteries or generators to hold onto some of that power when we need it, then we could solve a major problem for everyone (and give electricity to the poorer population too).   Nothing wrong with fantasy.  1f601.svg

- @Karin1 

Giving energy to the poor was what caused so many problems with the electrical system in the DR.  Everyone thought electricity was a "right" and many of those people stole power.  It took decades to get most people to pay.

The problems today still have much to to do with corruption and ineptitude of the government run EDE's which distribute power.  They really don't care.  The graduated scale of paying for power is still designed to make it less expensive for the people who use less power, in this case much of the poor.  Those of us who use more power still subsidize that.  I am dealing with an EDE, EDENORTE, who does not want to make necessary repairs so that the fuse to the transformer supplying my house and 3 others does not blow out every time it rains.  I am having discussions with the dull norms at Edenorte as I type this.
windeguy
My bills have not gone up dramatically as the price increases have kicked in. 

As others point out, there is probably something else happening, like your neighbor tapping into your meter, if you are seeing dramatic price rises and using less than 700 kWh monthly.  Cross that 700 number and your power will cost much more since all of it is billed at the highest rate.
DominicanadaMike
Another culprit is refrigerators and freezers.  If the compressor is running all the time, check out the Defrost thermostat.  You might need to call a repairman and there are several other culprits but this is the one that is the most common and it's cheap.  With the compressor running non-stop the cost to run your refrigerator will go from 400-700 pesos per month to 2000-2500 pesos per month.  Big difference.

Note: based on 17.79 kwh.
planner
Windeguy - absolutely correct. Many many people think electricity is their RIGHT. I remember a friend of mine  paid  350 RD monthly for electricity, this was about  5 years ago.  Edsur was  installing meters in every house in his barrio. I warned him about the bill that would follow. He had an inverter and  4 batteries and 1 air conditioner in his small house (1 bedroom house)  whene there was electricity the air was on ALWAYS.  When there was not they used the fan.

His first bill arrived and it was  17,000RD. He had a FIT!   But that was his usage when they charged him  350 a month.  Those paying by meters subsidize all of it.

Things are changing slowly.   Corruption, inefficiency etc are  the issues along with people stealing electricity because its  their "right".
Tippj
I didn’t see anyone mention cleaning the coils on your refrigerator which will let your motor run cooler and save on your bill and what about your air conditioning filters  , and how old is it ? I bought my new one’s about a year ago and just had the guy come by for basic maintenance , he was great , power rinsed the complete inside of the unit and could actually see how dirty the inside was with the the water going out the discharge hose , the man said it’ll run 10% more efficiently and if I did it regularly it would last a lot longer  ,
    Pay $ now or pay  $  later…..
planner
Always get the maintenance done, that is a basic fact here.
lmclmf2009
,,@Tippj

Great tip about the refrigerator and not something I had thought of so I will definitely get that checked out,  My fridge is a Samsung with an inverter and it's about 15 months old as are the other appliances.  We bought the Dominican brands at first but, to be honest, they always had some sort of an issue so we went to Corripio and bought all new ones with a warranty just to save us the headache. 

As far as the air conditioners, we have someone come every 3 months to clean them.  One a/c is about 3 years old, one is 2 years old, and one is only about a month old.  All are Samsung or Whirlpool and have inverters.  We turn them on in the evening to cool down the bedroom (2 of them- the other is only used in the morning to cool off my office) and then they are turned off and we use the fan.  We did a test over the past month to see how the usage would be billed (we receive daily emails of usage from EdeSur) and regardless if we had the a/c on for hours or if we had it on for 1 hour in the evening, our usage was literally the same on those 2 days and still nearly double on weekends even though we were not at home.  It is clear in my neighborhood that we are not billed according to usage.  We asked a few neighbors with houses similar in size and they all pay within 2oo pesos of us and the larger ones pay between 27,000 and 50,000 per month.  The larger the house the higher the bill.  My one neighbor was gone 3 months (no one in the house and all appliances unplugged) and her bill was 28,000-29,000 per month those months which is around what she normally pays.
lmclmf2009
I thought I would post an update here for everyone to let you know what happened with my electric bills and also let you know what I have been told in case anyone wishes to challenge their bills as well. First, we went to EdeSur to file a claim that we felt the bill is too high and they're supposed to send someone out to check your meter. As we all know, they send someone to the house and the answer is always the same, “Everything is fine!” and they don't adjust the bill. We then took their response to PROTECOM which is located in Sambil Mall here in the capital. We told them that we did not agree with the decision of the electric company and we wish for them to come and verify the information. They sent someone to our house and they spent less than two minutes here. They asked my husband to turn the electricity off and turn the electricity back on and basically left. What they're supposed to do is have you shut off the power to the house, turn off your inverter, and then ask you to turn each individual thing on so that they can calculate how much your electric usage is for each of the things in your home. They did not do this and about a week later we received a letter stating that everything is fine and they are not adjusting the bill. We did not agree so the next step was to write a letter and explain why we didn't agree with their response and provide any other information. I typed up a three-page letter explaining our situation, what we have in the home, why I didn't agree with the electric company, what happened when Protecom came here and why their response was insufficient and then submitted it to the Supertendencia through Protecom in Sambil Mall. In less than 48 hours we received a response that they agreed with Protecom and they weren't going to do anything. What the Supertendencia is supposed to do is investigate further the situation and they are supposed to come to the house and check everything which they did not do. Some office employee simply rubber-stamped the letter stating that the claim was denied.
We spoke with someone at the electric company and also a girl who works for Protecom and they both said that a price is set on your home, especially in certain areas, and you are not actually billed according to your usage. We looked at a chart that the Supertendencia added to our response letter and then usage is exactly the same as it was for the person who lived in this house before us. It was some young rich kid and his wife who had lots of electrical equipment in the home as well as running the AC and such all the time based on what the neighbor told us as well as the electrician who came here to run additional wiring to support the electronics he had. We have also been monitoring our daily usage and there are days that we are billed high usage and we were not at home and the usage was much more than a day where I actually been doing wash for a number of hours. We have been advised to file a lawsuit against EdeSur and that will force them to have to investigate the situation. The workers for the electric company and Protecom basically told us that most people don't follow through with their claims and this is why the companies get away with what they're doing so we are definitely going to file a lawsuit regardless if we’re successful or not just based on principle.
My question to those in this group is: Has anyone else done this before or do you know of an attorney in Santo Domingo that would handle this type of case? Any advice you can offer is greatly appreciated. Thank you so much.
planner
Very informative post!  Let me ask both lawyers I generally use and see if either has experience or can recommend someone.

I got a special meter online. It connects to each  circuit in your breaker box and sends data to your phone!  Was absolutely interesting and conflicted with my usage as well! I am now armed with the info needed to fight Edesur!
Karin1
@Tippj

Thats a great tip, never even heard of it.  Thank you Tippi.
Karin1
@lmclmf2009

wow, thats alot of work and I suspect you have alot more to do but please keep us updated.  I hate to give in to this because we should be able to pay our fair share, keyword is FAIR.
Tippj
Yer know maybe some of you guys are on a monthly averaging payment plane
Sometimes the electric company will put a customer on it with out their knowledge
So it works like
your bill will basically be the same Whether it will be December or August  and the company only has to tweak a little from time to time…….
Maybe something to ask next time you visit to inquire about the bill
planner
I have only ever seen this in the very low consumption areas.

As far as I am aware there is no average billing here with the EDE distributors. I do know of places where older meters are only read every 2 months. The EDE companies are replacing all the older meters and going to the newer electronic read meters. Saves on staffing costs.
Tippj
Yes I know that the new digital meters are able to register consumption  into a data base and that’s how your bill will be calculated….and there’s less need for meter readers  , so they can redirect man power to other issues …. If they don’t lay them off 🤞
planner
For my business I get daily consumption updates as I am working to lower that bill.

At home I get weekly consumption updates, showing the last 30 days.  It lets me see quickly if something is wrong!
Tippj
I must be one of the lucky ones , cause I’m real happy with my bill$ every month
Last month (July) I had my AC on 24 hrs a day (#24)  refrigerator ,lighting, water cooler
Stereo , TV and the bill was so low I couldn’t even pay for one dinner for for the same amount and the other 3 meters were so low there not even worth mentioning,
, I think some of the concerns I read about  here should be looked into more deeply
If the bills are as high as some say……
.. maybe they do go by past billing cycles  because the 85 year old woman I
bought from only had a refrigerator and one ceiling fan in the whole complex
😂🤣😂

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