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Pastimes : The California Energy Crisis - Information & Forum
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To: Raymond Duray who wrote (395)6/6/2001 8:59:19 PM
From: Raymond Duray  Read Replies (1) of 1715
 
OT: The buzz from a Brazilian - How the Game is Played Down South

Thread,

I sent the NY Times article on Brazil's electric woes to a buddy who grew up in Brazil. He had some interesting comments:

"It is amazing how they screwed up the energy sector in Brazil:

In its the greedy to get foreign investment in the energy sector, (to finance the public deficit) they privatized the part of the system where they could make the fastest buck: Distribution. They left in the state hands transmission and generation.

Not only that: They privatised first and only later put in place the regulatory framework. Recipe for disaster.

As if this wasn't enough. Brazil keeps its Petroleum monopoly in the hands of the stateowned Petrobras. Locally known as Petrossaurus. It is sabotaging the economy of the country by refusing to cooperate in the gas imports from Bolivia to build gas-fired thermo plants.

But that is Brazil. There is more:

The lobby of construction companies, plus the suppliers of
electrical engineering, lobbies hard to keep building hydroelectric since gas fired plants are not good business for them.

You thought it is enough? No not enough.

There is a lobby to build nuclear plants instead of Hydro and thermos and so it goes. This accomodation of every single special interest group makes for slow decision-making process and inaction.

The biggest stupidity of all is that they could cheaper and faster interconnect the grids of the neighbouring countries and import or export electricity based in supply and demand. But even the grid of South Brazil (which is not affect by drought these last couple of years) is not connected to the grid of northern Brazil. Well, lets see if some nights in the dark they kick into action.
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