Network Expansion Program and the Reduction of Electric Losses in Distribution
  • Project's Code:
    DR-L1128
  • Project's Leader:
    Jorge Mercado

i) the creation of a social responsibility program (responsibility and involvement with the community) with concrete actions and budget, which will include: (i) a social program to address the problem of electrical losses. For this purpose, a work with the most deprived communities is proposed, and a joint work with at least one local nonprofit organization that acts as the intermediary and facilitates communication with community leaders and residents. As the loss reduction program goes from design to implementation, companies could hire local female residents to act as their "agents" to conduct door-to-door visits, educate clients about safety in the use of electricity and on how to reduce consumption to make the service more affordable, identify possible cases of theft, errors or billing problems and submit customer complaints to the company; (ii) a gender policy and action plan, which encourages, among other things the participation of more women in leadership positions within EDESUR; (iii) the design and implementation of pilot projects of productive use of energy, in deprived areas prioritized by EDESUR, including financing plans for microenterprises; and (iv) program of technical training in energy and job placement for young people.The program may include actions for community outreach, sponsoring social and sports activities in communities with the highest percentages of electrical losses. This can be baseball games, fairs, etc. Tata Power in New Delhi, India hired more than 800 local women from 223 slums to act as public service links and encourage bill payments. As a result, Tata saw an 183 percent increase in revenue in five years from these areas with a minimal cost to the company. Given the interest and political will of the Directorate of Human Management in carrying out a process of incorporating the gender approach into the policies of the institution supported by the IDB, a gender policy and an action plan will be developed. Among the activities to be included are: review the way in which recruitment activities and training and promotion of EDESUR staff are carried out. The Company has identified three economically depressed areas in which EDESUR is related: Barahona, Azua and San Juan, where a pilot project of productive entrepreneurship could support women's economic activities and thus contribute to reducing poverty, reducing electrical losses and at the same time improve the relationship with the community. This program could accompany a labor insertion plan. Not only could this improve community unemployment, but these individuals will also understand the importance of the service provided (electricity), have a sense of belonging and have the financial resources to pay their electricity bill.

Access the Project's Document:
Countries:
Dominican Republic