Venezuela Makes Every Friday a Holiday to Save Electricity
- Country's main dam just 3 meters above critical level
- Hotels and shopping malls will be required to use generators
Shoppers in Caracas.
Photographer: Meridith Kohut/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has designated every Friday in the months of April and May as a non-working holiday, a bid to save electricity as a prolonged drought pushes water levels to a critical threshold at hydro-generation plants.
The country will unveil details of a 60-day plan to conserve energy Thursday, Maduro said, adding that measures would include asking large users such as shopping malls and hotels to generate their own electricity for nine hours a day. Heavy industries operating in the country will be asked to cut consumption by 20 percent, he said.