A week after the publication in the Official Gazette of a plan on electric rationing in Caracas, uncertainty prevails among businesses.

Víctor Maldonado, the director of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services of the Venezuelan capital city, said that the ceiling on energy consumption established by the government for the so-called heavy consumers is "unrealistic."

According to the official resolution, companies in the trade and industrial sectors with consumption higher than 25 kilovolt/ampere (kVa) per month are considered heavy consumers. Such companies are expected to cut electric power demand by 10 percent by February 19, and by another 10 percent next week in order to avoid power cuts.

Javier Alvarado, the president of Electricidad de Caracas (EDC), a Venezuelan public utility, said that on February 19 EDC officials will begin inspecting 8,000 heavy consumers in the areas of trade, industry and public institutions in the metropolitan area of Caracas.

According to Maldonado, the nature of certain businesses makes implementation of the government regulation "impracticable." "It is impossible for bakeries to meet such restrictions on power consumption," he said.

Apart from bakeries, the business leader said that supermarkets and restaurants are heavy consumers due to their continued use of refrigeration to preserve food.

Maldonado rejected again the fact that the Executive branch of government has outlined an energy saving plan unilaterally. "The government has not talked to any sector to build public policies."

Billboards off
Ricardo Saladrigas, the chairman of the Industrial Association of Outdoor Advertising (Aimex), announced that they have turned off 35 percent of billboards and outdoor advertising displays throughout the country.

In Caracas, the city with the largest number of billboards, companies have turned off 40 percent of ads. Saladrigas stressed that the rationing plan goes as planned to comply with the resolution issued by the government last week.

Translated by Gerardo Cárdenas