The federal government is analyzing the return of the infamous summer time, which was abolished in 2019 to fulfill a promessa from Jair Bolsonaro's campaign in 2018. However, the energy crisis scenario and requests from businesspeople are weighing on the decision.
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Faced with pressure – economic and from experts – the Ministry of Mines and Energy consulted the National Electric System Operator on the topic. During 2021, Brazil went through its worst water crisis in 90 years, which affected energy generation – mostly hydro. The government wants to know from technicians whether summer time could generate savings for energy consumers during peak hours.
Entrepreneurs in the tourism, food and beverage sector are trying to return daylight saving time since the beginning of the year. Now, adding to the arguments is the shift in maximum demand (which started to occur in the middle of the afternoon) as a result of the growing participation of distributed solar generation, according to the government itself.
The topic came to light on social media during the presidential debates, last Sunday (28).
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In a note, the Ministry of Mines and Energy said that evaluating energy measures is part of the department's responsibilities and that, therefore, it “constantly carries out technical evaluation of the best available measures, according to the current energy context, in order to maintain the energy security and reasonable tariffs for the Brazilian consumer”.
If approved, the resumption of daylight saving time could happen later this year, according to ministry sources to CNN.
This is not the first time this discussion has happened. Last year, some business segments asked the government to return summer time.
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