Venezuela. By order of President Hugo Chavez, the country must limit the import and use of air conditioning equipment in order to save energy.This determination, along with other limitations, is included in an energy conservation plan presented by the Venezuelan government, which exempts imported materials for the generation and transmission of electricity from paying value added tax.
The project also approved the reduction and control of electricity consumption in the public sector, the increase in self-generation of energy, and also vetoes the entry of devices that consume a lot of energy to Venezuela.
The Minister of Electricity, Angel Rodríguez, explained that the thermostats of the air conditioning equipment will not be below 24ºC, they will turn off when the working days end and will remain non-working during non-working days.
In Venezuela, electricity consumption is 4165 kilowatts (Kw) per hour, ranking as the highest in the region, as it is double that of Colombia and exceeds that of Chile by 1000 Kw, according to the Minister of Energy and Petroleum, Rafael Ramírez. Likewise, the electricity demand of this country is 17,000 megawatts (MW), which exceeds the current generation.
