Electricity and 'me'

Paul Meyer Reimer writes about first impressions... electricity and individualism.

Se fue la luz! It happens when you least expect it--in the middle of your favorite soap opera, in the bowels of a windowless shopping mall, while doing your homework--no power, no light.

  On arriving I was surprised not so much by the apagones (blackouts) themselves, as by the strong reaction to them: A recent Listín Diario survey rated concern about apagones above unemployment and the high cost of living. A few weeks ago, community organizations in San Pedro de Macorís had organized a general strike. Tires were burning in the streets, armed vigilantes were roaming. The strikers demands?-- better health services, and an end to apagones.

The frustrating thing for us North Americans is never knowing when electricity will be available. Dictators have used uncertainty to control--Stalin's black Maria's roamed the streets of Moscow, ready to vomit forth their load of NKVD men without warning. While the CDE lacks the menace, the uncertainty is still an affront each day, reminding you of your lack of "power" of self-determination.

The U.S. is said to be a highly individualistic country. But here in the DR, organizing your electrical supply is much more an individual choice than it is in the U.S. :-)

Hmmm, maybe reliable electrical power in the U.S. contributes to my illusion of being an individual, in control of my own fate?

Sign on a traffic light: "Energy donated by TRICOM". At other less fortunate intersections traffic lights go out when the electricity goes.

Even an abundance can be disastrous...The national electrical company (CDE) explained one set of blackouts as due to too much new generating capacity--it strained the distribution system to the breaking point :-)

The CDE is supplying around 60% of potential electrical demand, according to recent estimates. Generators are everywhere--owned by every serious business and a selling point for new apartments.

Wealthy homes often have the electrical-age equivalent of a cistern: a bank of batteries and an inverter that charge when power's available on the grid, and supply power to the house when it's not.

Recently the IMF has been pressuring the CDE not to buy more generating capacity. They would rather that the CDE be sold to private investors, and that the resulting company(ies) make such decisions.