Darkness in Rio

Rio de Janeiro, city of delights; By day there is no water, At night there are no lights. --Carnival song, 1955

For a month now, the most glamorous city under the Southern Cross has been dining by candlelight, but hardly from choice. Rio has been plunged into its most serious power shortage since 1904, when a company eventually taken over by the Canadian-owned Brazilian Traction, Light & Power Co. brought the city its first electricity and enlightened Brazilian parents began naming their sons Edison--still a favorite first name in Brazil.

Twilight Zones. Factories have been ordered to cut power consumption 10% and everyone else (except essential services) must cut 20%. During peak load hours between 6 and 10 p.m. shopwindow lights are turned off, illuminated billboards are darkened, neon signs stop flashing. Worst of all are the daily blackouts, which hit 48 city zones in turn for periods varying between 30 and 50 minutes beginning at twilight each evening. Elevators stop, TV sets go blank, street lights blink off. As the lights finally return in darkened bars across Rio, a cry rises from dwellers in tall apartment buildings: "Give me one for the elevator!"

Officially, the power company (known in Rio simply as "The Light") blames the rationing on a generator breakdown and a prolonged drought affecting hydroelectric reservoirs. But a Light executive privately concedes: "Even if the drought hadn't come, Rio would have had power rationing this month." Rio's power demands have been growing at an average of 8.3% per year, and the Light's capacity now falls 100,000 kw. short of peak-hour demands. Relief is not expected until the federal government's Furnas Dam project, with 600,000 kw. of installed capacity, goes into operation later this year.

Sagging Service. The Light's plight is a sign of the times in Latin America. In these nationalistic days, governments find it politically impossible to grant rate increases to foreign-owned utility companies. Since 1954, the Light has only been allowed to raise rates enough to meet increased wages, but not enough to expand facilities or service. At 2/7-c- (U.S.) per kwh, "our power is the cheapest in the world," says a company official. "Our rates are so low they do not even cover distribution of our power to new clients." As service sags, clients complain. The complaints turn into demands for nationalization by politicians, left and right.

Brazil's President Joao Goulart, who rode nationalism to power himself, has called foreign-owned utilities "a cadaver in the road to good relations" and has announced plans to buy out all foreign utility companies in the country. Goulart has already negotiated the purchase of International Telephone and Telegraph holdings, of American & Foreign Power Co. installations, and the Light's Rio telephone company. Since he has paid fair prices so far, and the Light expects to be nationalized sooner or later, the Light would just as soon it were sooner than later. Let someone else listen to the complaints.

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