The brazilian daylight saving time as a public policy for energy efficiency

Abstract This work aims to analyze the possible diseconomies of electricity energy induced by the end of daylight saving time in 2019. The series of electrical energy load observations for the Southeast/Midwest subsystem for each hour of the day is considered a dependent variable in multiple linear regression models. The explanatory variables mainly relate to meteorological attributes (temperature), periodicities associated with electricity consumption (daily, weekly, and annual), and economic activity. The research is based on data from the ONS (National System Operator), INMET (National Institute of Meteorology), and IPEA (Institute for Applied Economic Research) from 2017 to 2021. Daylight saving time positively impacted the reduction of consumption around the evening twilight and increased energy consumption in the late dawn and early morning. However, the net balance throughout the day is, on average, 4,976.81 MWh, corresponding to 13.47% of the power required in the Southeast/Midwest Brazilian Interconnected Power System for the 6 p.m. It is worth mentioning that around the evening twilight, the electrical system works with high load requirements.