Chavez urges 3-minute showers to conserve water

[ChangoLoa]

CARACAS (Reuters) – Leftist President Hugo Chavez called on Venezuelans on Wednesday to stop singing in the shower and to wash in three minutes because the oil-exporting nation is having problems supplying water and electricity.

Venezuela has suffered several serious blackouts in the past year because of rapidly growing demand and under-investment, which has been aggravated by a drop in water levels in hydroelectric dams that provide most of its energy.

Chavez announced energy-saving measures and said he would create a ministry to deal with the electricity shortages, which have affected the image of his socialist revolution before legislative elections due in 2010.

Calling for water conservation, he said low rainfall caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon meant water levels were critically low in the El Guri reservoir, one of the world's largest dams.

"Some people sing in the shower, in the shower half an hour. No kids, three minutes is more than enough. I've counted, three minutes, and I don't stink," he said during a televised Cabinet meeting.

"If you are going to lie back, in the bath, with the soap and you turn on the what's it called, the Jacuzzi ... imagine that, what kind of communism is that? We're not in times of Jacuzzi," he said, to laughter from his ministers.

He mentioned using airplanes to try to force rain from clouds and said the government would soon publish a decree prohibiting imports of low-efficiency electrical appliances. He called on ministries and state-run companies to cut energy consumption by 20 percent immediately.

(Reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez; Editing by Peter Cooney)


http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091022/wl_nm/us_venezuela_chavez_1

[ChangoLoa]

1. Venezuela to Ration Water, Save Power as El Nino Reduces Rain

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=aMsi6CfDP90M


By Steven Bodzin and Daniel Cancel

Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuela will impose conservation measures for water and electricity because the El Nino weather pattern has reduced rainfall, affecting hydroelectric stations and drinking-water reservoirs.

The country will distribute 50 million energy-saving light bulbs, ban the import of products that use excessive amounts of electricity and increase electricity charges for heavy users, President Hugo Chavez said late yesterday on state television. He decreed the creation of a new electricity ministry and promised to speed up the construction of power plants.

Chavez is trying to head off possible political fallout from power disruptions, which have become more common in recent years as growing energy use outstripped expansion in the nation's generation and transmission network.

"The government neglected the power grid and now are running to fix it as demand continues to grow," said Ricardo Sucre, a professor of political science at Central University of Venezuela in Caracas. "They've also made investment promises that haven't been fulfilled."

Government departments must cut power use by 20 percent immediately, Chavez said. State-owned oil, aluminum and steel companies must "rationalize" their electric use, he said.

CVG Electrificacion del Caroni CA, or Edelca, which provides power to the aluminum, iron, steel, coal, and bauxite industries, used 19 percent of the country's power in August, Venezuela's electricity grid operator said in its most recent monthly report.

Less Water

Hidrocapital, Caracas's water utility, will reduce supply by 25 percent, from 400 liters (105.5 gallons) per person to 300 liters, until May when rains usually return, Alejandro Hitcher, the utility's president, said earlier on state television.

"We're in an El Nino cycle," Hitcher said yesterday. "It's the driest year in the last 40."

Water levels in reservoirs on the Caroni River, which generate 70 percent of the country's electricity, are "near the alert level," Chavez said. Wasting electricity or water "is a crime," he said. He called on people to take three-minute showers and not wait for water to warm up before bathing.

The country's electricity consumption has risen by an average 4.3 percent in the past 12 months, according to data from the National Administration Center, the electricity grid operator also known as CNG.

Consumption declined in 2007 and 2008 as a Cuban-led conservation effort handed out 78 million compact fluorescent lamps in exchange for more energy-hungry incandescent bulbs.

Venezuela is burning more fuel oil, diesel and natural gas at thermal power stations than it did a year earlier, according to CNG reports. In August, the most recent month for which records are available, fuel oil consumption rose 71 percent, diesel gained 8.8 percent and natural gas climbed 12 percent.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Apparently you find water rationing terrifying, We've had to ration water here,

and people have been FORBIDDEN to water their yards, wash cars, etc. on alternating days of the week or be given FINES by the local government.

We also are completely familiar with gas rationing, as well. Very familiar, having done it here, of course.

[ChangoLoa]

3. Why do you put your own words in my mouth? nt.

[Billy Burnett]

4. Plus, it's just awful that a national leader would be espousing conservation too.

Chavez could learn a thing or two from Sarah Palin ---> "Drill, baby! Drill!

:sarcasm:

[ChangoLoa]

6. The issue here is the drought provoked by El Niño, Billy

I wasn't critical about Chavez, I just find funny the way he talks (in a positive sense, 3 minute shower and no jacuzzi for the ministers).

[Billy Burnett]

7. The story is about the leader of Venezuela encouraging conservation.

Conservation is something the "conservatives" (RW) have distanced themselves from.

Maybe you didn't see the --> :sarcasm: icon.

[Braulio]

8. Crisis is kind of complicated

An expert report issued last week said the problem wasn't only the lack of water in the reservoirs feeding the hydroelectric plants. There's an additional problem, the distribution network isn't up to transmitting the power from the hydropower centers to the population centers.

Another expert told me the government is very focused on building natural gas fired power plants, but they have had slow progress issuing contracts. This is in part caused by a serious lack of competent personnel in the electric power companies (which were recently nationalized) and PDVSA (which has management spread too thin due to massive firings in 2003). This is one reason why it's so hard to predict economic growth, the ability to produce is in part driven by electric power availability, and as the crisis looms, it's hard to predict what the government's reaction will be, and how fast do they react. If they move efficiently, they can fix the problem within 18 months.

Judy is right, these problems crop up in every country, I remember when an electric supply crisis happened in Argentina in the 1979-81 period, which was partially responsible for a subsequent economic crisis and peso devaluation, which led the military dictatorship to invade the Malvinas, which in turn led to the government's collapse after they lost the war. Sometimes, in third world nations with inmature political systems, economic crises lead to tragic consequences.

Given the over-valued bolivar, high inflation, a fairly weak economy, and the problem with electricity supply, Venezuela may not have the same ability to export oil, which means other OPEC nations may have to overproduce their quotas to keep prices steady.

[Billy Burnett]

9. Now that you've agreed with Judi, doesn't that make you a commie supporter of tyranny also?

:evilgrin:

[Braulio]

11. I think it makes me a Judy supporter when it comes to shortages

I'm definitely not a commie supporter of tyranny. I guess I could support one if I were the guy in charge, and I could force all of you to wear your underwear on the outside, or something like that. Meanwhile, I'll continue to oppose large government of any type, the right to keep large caliber weapons at home, and legalized pot.

[Billy Burnett]

13. Guns and pot just don't go well together without some booze too.

:beer:

[Braulio]

14. I don't do drugs or alcohol

Actually, I don't do drugs or alcohol. I'm merely defending the rights of those of you who're into it. I don't think the government should tell people what to do for recreational purposes on their own time, as long as they don't endanger other people.

I guess I'm an individualist, which means I'm not too fond of communism, fascism, or their ilk, and their insistence on uniformity and obedience to a repressive daddy state - a state which happens to be run by party leaders living in big houses, driving large vehicles, and enjoying the good times traveling all over the world at the people's expense.

[Mika]

15. Good for you.

.. a state which happens to be run by party leaders living in big houses, driving large vehicles, and enjoying the good times traveling all over the world at the people's expense.

Then I guess that you're not too fond of the US then, based on your abhorrence to the above.


A rugged individualist dwelling ..

[AlphaCentauri]

10. Now there is a good reason for the nationalization and the need of a nuclear power plan

I'll like to see countries staying out of the nuclear stuff if they can't recycled safely

[Braulio]

12. Nationalization of power generation doesn't matter

I don't think it makes an iota of difference if a power plant is owned by a state corporation or by a private entity. In Latin American countries, the national grid probably should be owned by the state. The key is to plan ahead and maintain both the plants and the national grid. Based on the expert reviews I've read, national power grid maintenance has been defficient in Venezuela, and planning for future generation capacity has been poor - government officials have known the problem was getting worse, and did very little to fix it.

Regarding nuclear power, Venezuela needs to decide whether it has huge gas reserves or not. I keep hearing a lot from government officials about their huge gas reserves - but I'm doubtful they know how to bring it to market, because there's a gas shortage and Venezuela has been importing gas from Colombia. If Venezuela has the gas, then it ought to get its act together and figure out how to produce it, distribute it, and use if for power generation, it's the best option by far.

Nuclear power doesn't make sense for Venezuela, it's expensive, and it takes a lot of tender loving care. Venezuela has a serious problem with brain drain, and its university standards have been dropping, so it's not sensible to try to complicate matters. They are better off focusing the smart educated people they got fixing their refineries, developing their oil and gas fields, and building gas powered electric plants.

[AlphaCentauri]

5. Now I know why those buses in Maracaibo smell like gouts

:evilgrin: