CARACAS (Dow Jones)--Venezuela's top electricity official says state-run power company Corpoelec collected only enough revenue to pay roughly half of its 2010 payroll and said the delinquent bills of state-run companies and local governments were the cause of much of the shortfall.

Speaking to state-run media Monday during a visit to a power plant in the northern coastal state of Carabobo, Ali Rodriguez Araque, head of the electricity ministry, said state and city governments and other state-run ventures owe the government power company close to VEF4 billion, or just over $930 million.

"It's a severe problem for the company, which is why we have beefed up our collections processes and have ordered power be cut off to those institutions who are not current with their payments," Rodriguez said to the Venezuelan News Agency.

Venezuela suffered crippling electricity shortages in late 2009 and early 2010 due to a drought, rising demand and a lack of infrastructure investment. President Hugo Chavez nationalized the power sector in 2007.

The shortages forced the government to ration usage for residences and factories, which drove the Venezuelan economy deeper into recession.

The crisis subsided following the rainy season in May, which has lifted water levels at reservoirs that drive key hydroelectric plants.

In June, Chavez announced the end of the rationing program that had forced some businesses and residents to go without power for several hours a day. Efforts to increase electricity capacity by installing new thermoelectric plants also helped. Government officials have, nonetheless, continued to encourage conservation.

On Monday, Rodriguez added that with many homes lacking power meters, his department also had to step up monitoring of residential power consumption.

"We need to have in the country three million meters installed, but at the same time improve the systems of control, education, invoicing and collection," he said.

While Venezuela's per-capita electricity consumption is far below that of developed countries, it is the highest in Latin America. Analysts say that the government's reluctance to raise consumer electricity rates in line with years of sky-high inflation is partly to blame for the spiking demand.

-By Ezequiel Minaya, Dow Jones Newswires; ezequiel.minaya@dowjones.com; 58-414-120-5738

(Dan Molinski contributed to this article.)