Another boring Venezuela electricity post, a pretty picture, and a special Margarita rant

Another month goes by, Venezuela’s National Administration Center issues another electricity report, Setty does his analysis.

Climate-appropriate energy sources for Isla Margarita.

Other than the Guri Dam filling up (see below), not much changed in June.

Hardly any new generation was added to the grid. Conservation remains in force despite the supposed lifting of rationing. Nationwide consumption is down 8.4% year over year. Industrial conservation is still, apparently, being enforced outside the state industries, as shown by the power bill at Anglo American Plc’s Loma de Niquel project. It remains at essentially the same level as it was in May: 42.9 megawatt-hours for a 30-day month, down from 43.5 for a 31-day month. The mill has its furnaces fixed and should be back above 50 megawatt-hours of consumption as soon as it can get away with it.

Nationwide, consumption of fuel oil fell almost 10% month over month, while diesel consumption leveled off a bit above 73,000 barrels a day. Natural gas consumption increased by a hair.

Since Island Canuck, in comments, was asking about what’s up with Seneca, the utility for Isla Margarita: According to the CNG, diesel consumption remained basically the same as it was in the prior three months. Power generation has also been basically flat since rising in March. There are no significant declines, contrary to Seneca’s statements about maintenance. There has been an increase in imports, contrary to the statements that power is being exported to Anzoategui: imports to the island in June totalled 31.6 megawatt hours, up from 20.5 in May.

If you’re getting rationing, it’s probably because the island just keeps using more power: up 15% year over year to 199.7 megawatt-hours in June. Suggestion: you want less rationing? Buy a container-load of water heater timers and sell them at cost to everyone on the island. Or better yet, go into the solar water heater installation business. It’s unconscionable that homes on a tropical island should run air conditioners and poorly insulated, indoor, tank-style electric water heaters. And yes, I know, it’s hard to justify solar when electricity is so cheap. But water heater timers — they are really, really cheap.

Isla Margarita has great brown boobies all over the place. And yes, I am mostly just curious how many more hits this post gets because of a picture of a brown booby. Soon they will let me into eighth grade...