ENERGY-BRAZIL: Rationing Raised Awareness on Conservation

By Mario Osava Reprint | | Print |

Mario Osava

RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb 20 2002 (IPS) - Measures aimed at rationing energy in Brazil since June are about to be lifted. Far from causing the disaster predicted by experts and business leaders, they raised awareness on the need to save electricity and gave a boost to the development of alternative energy sources.

President Fernando Henrique Cardoso announced Tuesday that the efforts designed to cut energy consumption by 20 percent in southeastern, northeastern and central-western Brazil – the most populous parts of the country – would be suspended on Mar 1.

The commission in charge of combatting the energy crisis (CGE) concluded that the rationing measures could be lifted without any risks, since water levels in the reservoirs that feed the country’s hydroelectric plants have returned to safe levels, equivalent to half of their maximum electricity generating capacity.

Water levels are back up thanks to the rain that has fallen since November, and to the energy-saving efforts of households and industry, even though the country fell short of reaching the target of slashing consumption by 20 percent.

In the September to November period, the amount of water in the reservoirs fell to critically low levels: 20.61 percent of capacity in dams located in southeastern and central-western Brazil, and just 7.84 percent of capacity in the arid, impoverished northeast.

But CGE coordinator Pedro Parente said there would be no shortages in the foreseeable future, as indicated by the fact that 80 percent of respondents to a government survey said they were prepared to continue following the energy-saving practices adopted in the past nine months.

Parente, who is also a government minister, said the measures to reduce consumption were approved of by 67 percent of those interviewed.

According to government projections, consumption will still be at least seven percent down from pre-rationing levels in the next few months, thanks to voluntary energy-saving measures.

To force Brazilians to save energy, the government slapped additional costs on large consumers, with fines for those who failed to meet their targets, and the cutting off of supplies for repeat offenders.

It also granted discounts to households with low consumption levels, many of which were in the lowest-income bracket.

“People realised that they were wasting energy,” Josefa Gomes, a domestic worker, told IPS. Within just a few months, Gomes earned discounts that lowered her electricity bill to zero, by installing energy-saving lightbulbs, unplugging some home appliances, and meticulously turning off unnecessary lights and appliances.

Predictions of blackouts and a major drop in economic activity, especially in industry, did not come to pass, because they failed to take into account that Brazil is not Switzerland or Japan, “countries that have already reached the limits of energy conservation,” reporter Joelmir Betting wrote Tuesday in his column on the economy, which is published in several local papers.

In industrialised countries, there is no more margin for reducing consumption, because that process already took place during the oil crisis of the 1970s, he pointed out. But in Brazil, wasteful practices still reigned, which meant consumption could be reduced without too great an effort.

Industry also began to use energy in a more rational manner, and many businesses announced that they would maintain the 20 percent reduction, without any fall in production.

The production levels of industry in Brazil did not suffer the expected impact of the rationing, and grew 1.5 percent last year, according to the governmental Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics.

Power shortages only affected energy-intensive sectors like the aluminum industry and factories that produce consumer goods like TV sets and VCRs.

But growth in those sectors was also limited by other factors, like the rise in interest rates that resulted from the knock-on effects of Argentina’s economic meltdown.

However, there are fears that the decision announced by the government Tuesday is premature. A new drought could force the country to adopt rationing measures again next year, warned Mauricio Tolmasquim at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, an expert who is critical of the government’s energy policy.

To stave off such fears, Cardoso said that there would be no problem asking Brazilians to make a new effort if the country faces shortages in the future. But, he added, such sacrifices are not justified for the time being.

“Few people in the world would do what the Brazilian people did,” he said, praising the population for its successful energy- saving efforts.

Another positive result arising from the energy crisis was a major rise in investment in alternative sources of power. For example, 42 wind power projects were approved last year by the National Agency of Electric Energy, with 3.3 billion dollars in investments in the pipeline.

The wind power projects will add 3,630 megawatts to the country’s energy generating capacity, two times what is produced by Angra II, the nuclear power plant located 150 kms from Rio de Janeiro.