Minister does not rule out returning to summer time in 2024

When giving an interview to Rádio Itatiaia, this Friday (6), the Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, said that daylight saving time will not be necessary next year, but did not rule out the return of the measure in 2024.

“This year, if we continue as is, we have no prospect of summer time”, said the minister before highlighting that it is necessary to be “very attentive to the issue of energy security”.

When asked about the prospect of a return to summer time in 2024, Silveira said that planning “is done on a daily basis” by the electricity sector monitoring committee and, therefore, the return of the measure cannot be ruled out so far in advance.

The end of daylight saving time in the 11 states in which it was applied was decreed by the former president, Jair Bolsonaro (PL), in April 2019. At the time, the Ministry of Mines and Energy said that the peak time for energy consumption daily in the country is around 3 pm, which would make it irrelevant to set the clocks forward.

During the signing of the decree, Bolsonaro said that the government had carried out a survey in which 70% of the population was in favor of ending daylight saving time.

Summer time was created by then president Getúlio Vargas between 1931 and 1932 and was in effect for almost six months. The measure was applied the following summer, but was later adopted in non-consecutive periods.

In 2008, during Lula’s second term, daylight saving time became permanent.