The federal government decided, this Wednesday (16), not to resume daylight savings time, which ended in 2019. The Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, made the announcement, after a meeting that assessed the economic and energy impacts of the measure .
According to the government, the economic benefit of moving clocks forward by 1 hour throughout Brazil does not justify its adoption, and traditional time is maintained throughout the country. The situation was analyzed after a study, and the government came to the conclusion that there is no need to adopt summer time this year.
“We have guaranteed energy security. This is the beginning of a re-establishment process, albeit relatively small, of our water condition”, said the Minister, indicating that this possibility will still be assessed in 2025.
The lack of rain in the country was the background to the discussion on whether to return to summer, which started about a month ago.
With the drought and the fires affecting several regions, mainly the Southeast and the Midwest, the measure was again discussed as alternatives to reduce the overload on the energy system and to empty the impact of the reservoirs cushion
When did summer time start in the country?
The National Electric System Operator (ONS) suggested a return to summer time last month, due to the drought affecting Brazil. The purpose of the measure is to save energy, and therefore make more use of natural light.
Brazilian summer time was first instituted, by then President Getúlio Vargas, from October 3, 1931 to March 31, 1932.
In Brazil, it operated continuously from 1985 until 2019, when, in April, the federal government decided to revoke it, claiming that it had little efficiency in terms of energy savings.
Before the end, the period in which summer time was in force was defined between the months of October and February, according to a technical criterion, to take advantage of the differences in brightness between the periods of summer and the rest of the year.
The measure had the effect of reducing the concentration of electrical consumption between 6pm and 9pm.