Energy rationing starting for Brazilians

BERND RADOWITZ, Associated Press Writer

Monday, June 4, 2001, ©2001 Associated Press

URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2001/06/04/state0301EDT0102.DTL&type=news

(06-04) 00:01 PDT RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) --

Switch off the air conditioner and take fewer hot showers, officials are telling Brazilians ahead of an unpopular drive to ration energy.

Hoping to save the power system from collapse, the government was set Monday to order consumers to lower their consumption by 20 percent compared with last year or face hefty surcharges on their electricity bills and power cuts of up to six days. The rationing is expected to last until at least October.

Industry had to lower its power use by 15 percent to 25 percent beginning Friday.

A drought left many reservoirs at record low levels, meaning the power network -- almost entirely derived from hydroelectric energy -- cannot keep pace with demand. "We enter the dry season in critical condition," said Carlos Eduardo Almeida Silva, of Furnas, Brazil's biggest hydroelectric power generator.

In television and magazine ads, the government has appealed to Brazilians' solidarity in its rationing drive. Some blame the government for not having acted earlier to avoid the energy crunch. "The government made a mistake and now left it to the people to resolve it," said 21-year-old Vanessa de Carvalho, a cafeteria attendant from a suburb west of Rio de Janeiro.

Critics say the government has failed to look toward alternative energy sources, and that the hydroelectric system is too vulnerable to the swings of nature. Plans to build 49 natural-gas power plants to decrease dependency on hydroelectricity are far behind schedule, with only 15 ready to start operations next year.

The energy problem is also likely to spur economic and political problems. Rationing and possible rolling blackouts will force industry to cut production and could lead to a reduction in foreign investment, which could slow Brazil's gross domestic product growth to below 3 percent this year from 4.5 percent in 2000, most economists believe.

©2001 Associated Press

-- Swissrose (cellier3@mindspring.com), June 04, 2001

Answers

When I first read that 90% of Brazil's power came from hydro, I thought, oh, my God, how could any economy of this size--about the seventh or tenth biggest in the world--be so stupid as to put so many eggs in one basket?

Now it looks like they are going to pay the price.

-- Uncle Fred (dogboy45@bigfoot.com), June 04, 2001.