The Minister of Energy and Mines, Joel Santos, reported that the blackout investigation continues to progress rigorously. The Fault Committee of the Coordinating Body of the Interconnected National Electricity System (OC-SENI) has identified preliminary findings that are decisive for understanding the collapse that affected millions of Dominicans.
The blackout investigation has reached 65% progress, according to Santos during a press conference accompanied by Andrés Astacio, Superintendent of Electricity, and Manuel López San Pablo, Executive Director of OC-SENI. The minister reaffirmed the institutional commitment to technical rigor and transparency in every phase of the analysis process.
Technical data processing in the blackout investigation
Generating companies have provided the blackout investigation committee with more than one million specialized technical records. This vast amount of information is currently in the phase of detailed processing and evaluation, a task extending until next Friday to build a comprehensive and well-founded diagnosis.
The head of Energy explained that the precise determination of the causes requires exhaustive analysis, avoiding simplistic interpretations that could lead to erroneous conclusions. The multidisciplinary team focuses not only on identifying the origin of the breakdown, but also on evaluating the sequence of events that concatenated from the initial fault, considering that the country has an interconnected system where a localized failure can trigger cascading effects.
Timeline and next steps in the investigation
Preliminary report and communication with the public
As the blackout investigation progresses, concrete, verifiable, and duly supported results will be communicated to the country with absolute transparency. Santos indicated that the preliminary report will be ready in approximately two weeks after the current information processing is completed.
Strengthening the national electricity system
The central objective of this process is to strengthen the security, reliability, and resilience of the national electricity system. An improvement plan will be implemented to minimize the possibility of the event repeating, addressing vulnerabilities identified during the blackout investigation.
The analysis committee integrates experts from the Ministry of Energy and Mines, Superintendency of Electricity, OC-SENI, and the Dominican Electric Transmission Company (ETED), in addition to the distributors Edenorte, Edesur, and EDE Este, private and state generators such as Punta Catalina and Egehid. This multi-sector structure ensures that the blackout investigation reflects verified technical analyses from multiple perspectives of the energy sector.