RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – For the second year running, Brazil will not have daylight saving time, an instrument used between 2008 and 2018 to save energy consumption in ten states that register more daylight between October and February.
By decree in April last year, President Jair Bolsonaro terminated daylight saving time after a study by the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) pointed out that with the end of the temporary change consumers would save R$100 million.
“In recent years, with the changes in the population’s consumption habit and the intensification of the use of air conditioning, the period of higher daily power consumption was shifted to the afternoon, when summer time had no influence. As light is a source of heat, summer time also began to produce an effect of increased consumption at certain times, which already exceeded its benefits,” explained the MME in a note at the time.
The reduction in daylight saving began to be noticed and challenged in 2017, when a drop in consumption of 2,185 megawatts was recorded, equivalent to about R$145 million. In 2013, savings had reached R$405 million, down to R$159.5 million in 2016, a 60 percent drop.
Source: UOL