DOMINICAN REPUBLIC—Dominican Government Seeking to Take a More Active Role in Power-Generating Activities

Author: Cristian Vallejo

President Danilo Medina has introduced a bill to Congress seeking to grant the Corporación Dominicana de Empresas Eléctricas Estatales (CDEEE), the Dominican Republic’s state power holding company, the right to participate in power-generating activities, namely, the promotion and ownership, either directly or in partnership with the private sector, of projects whose purpose is to (i) modify the country’s energy matrix and (ii) increase the country’s power-generating capacity with low-cost and low-environmental-impact sources.

Pursuant to Article 2 of President Medina’s bill, CDEEE’s participation in such power-generating activities will be on a provisional basis until the country’s projected power demand has been satisfied and access to electricity has been “guaranteed to all users that require it under conditions of equality, continuity, efficiency, quality, fair tariff and preservation of the environment.”

Article 3 of the bill states that the “negotiation and closing” of power-generating projects that are promoted or owned (either directly or indirectly, in whole or in part) by the state through the CDEEE, as a result of the authority granted to it as contemplated by the bill, will be exempt from the proceedings and terms of Law No. 340-6 and accompanying regulation, which regulate the government’s procurement of good and services.

Pursuant to Article 4, the “terms and objectives” of the bill shall take “precedence in interpretation and applicability” over any other “provision” of equal or lesser “legal hierarchy” that “contravenes or causes interpretation conflicts” with respect to its application.

To read a courtesy translation of the bill, click here.

For additional information, please contact Cristian Vallejo.