Power Outages , blackout

You haven't seen anything yet.  Here, in Sosua, it is usually Tuesdays that power is cut for unannounced improvements. That being said, we have actually gone an entire week without a power interruption.  But for me, it is a very minor inconvenience.  The complex I live in has a generator, so it's just a matter of resetting the time on the microwave and stove.  Occasionally, I have to fiddle with the water filtration system.  Like I said, minor inconvenience.

I thought that Punta Cana had one of the more reliable electricity supplies in the country being served by a private generation cmpany (CEPM?).

But you may be a customer of Edeeste, and so like the majority here who are supplied by it and it's sister companies Edenorte and Edesur. The service is variable and will depend on which type of circuit you are on. There are some so called 24/7 circuits and others with less than full service.

For many years DR has had less generating capicity than demand and so the electricity supply has had to be rationed. And then there have been generating plant breakdowns and maintenance taking supply out of the system. The distribution network has been substandard and old and some 30% of generated power is wasted with failures of transformers and the like.

Things are changing though and a new coal powered geenration plant at Punta Catalina is being commisioned and daily it's supply into the grid is increasing from just a few megawatts now to a planned some 700 megawatts. There are also new solar and wind farms being added to the grid with a wind farm south west of Bani due to come on line shortly with wind turbines all in place.

The infrastructure is also being upgraded and you see new transmission lines being installed as you travel throughout the country.

Some places are now getting almost 24/7 service for the first time.

There are ongoing discussions trying to have an electricity pact agreed allowing all available electicity generation to be shared on the grid.

It is still not perfect but it is getting better year by year.

Most of us will have installed battery inverters and UPS's or even a generator to mainatin basic supplies when power cuts do kick in so we have light and comms.

In developing countries you do have to adapt, and if your pockets are deep enough go independant and solar.