Average residential electricity consumption returns to the highest level ever recorded in Brazil

Electrical energy expenditure reflects profound changes over time. Average household consumption once again approached the highest level ever recorded in history.

Brazil is very close to the record, reached in December 1998. In August of this year, the most recent data, the average reached the highest level of the 21st century.

During this period, the blackouts and rationing of 2001 and 2002 caused a sharp drop in consumption.

After that crisis, estimates indicated that, around 2010, Brazilian families would once again be consuming energy at the same levels as before the blackout. But this return took almost 30 years.

"This is not a negative fact. On the contrary, it is a positive fact, because the residential consumer has become more rational in their consumption of electricity", says Nivalde de Castro, coordinator of GESEL (UFRJ's Electrical Sector Study Group).

Engineer Márcio Américo is a specialist in energy efficiency and offers tips for saving money on a daily basis. "Use the presence sensor. We have a room here with LED lighting, with an efficient lamp. But what's the point of doing this type of process if you leave it on, with the space unoccupied?", he asks.

The guidelines include using LED lamps, keeping refrigerators in airy environments and choosing air conditioning units with the Procel seal and a label with the letter A, indicating that they use less energy.

However, even with these well-known practices, residential consumption has been growing. According to experts, this occurs for several reasons:

Experts also emphasize that the current situation is very different from that at the turn of the century. “What has grown the most in the Brazilian electricity matrix is ​​solar energy and wind energy, with the great advantage of being renewable and non-polluting”, explains Nivalde.

Márcio Américo states that the energy distribution and transmission structure and the interconnected electrical system are well designed. "You have a basically clean energy matrix. In Brazil, almost 89% of energy is renewable", he says.