OREANDA-NEWS. Venezuelan government efforts to reduce power consumption by declaring an extended Easter holiday from 19-27 March yielded disappointing results, deputy electricity minister Freddy Brito told state-owned VTV television yesterday.

President Nicolas Maduro decreed the holiday for all public and private-sector workers in an effort to preserve the dwindling Guri hydroelectric reservoir.

Guri supplies the 10GW Simon Bolivar hydroelectric complex that normally accounts for over 60pc of the country's power supply.

The government is increasingly concerned that a drought-induced plunge in Guri's water level could force state-owned utility Corpoelec to start shutting down up to eight of the facility?s 20 turbines by the end of April or early May.

Such an action would deepen already extensive supply rationing across the country.

Guri's water level was measured at 245.8m above sea level on 22 March, just shy of a 244 masl "red zone" below which Corpoelec must start idling capacity to protect the turbines, a Corpoelec official tells Argus.

Guri has been falling on average about one meter every eight days since January 2015.

The purpose of the extended holiday was to slow the strategic reservoir's rate of descent and gain one or two weeks before Corpoelec is forced to start suspending some turbines.

Brito acknowledged the government hoped Venezuelans would flock to the beaches if granted week-long paid vacation, reducing power use in populated areas such as Caracas and Maracaibo.

But a depressed economy, triple-digit inflation, widespread violent crime and critical food shortages apparently discouraged many from traveling.

The nine-day holiday "didn't have the impact that we expected" in terms of driving down power consumption, Brito said.

A government electricity authority chaired by electricity minister Luis Motta Dominguez "believed and projected that there would be a considerable reduction in power consumption during Holy Week," Brito added.

He blamed the disappointing results on high temperatures and residential air conditioners that he says account for 32pc of national power consumption.

Corpoelec estimates that demand increased by over 500MW to some 16,000MW during the holiday compared with about 15,500MW reported on 17 March. Corpoelec's operational generation capacity totaled 16.26GW as of 17 March.

Brito hinted that tougher supply restrictions are imminent on residential, commercial and industrial users if the third consecutive year of drought does not break by the end of April.

The cash-starved Maduro government is concerned that potentially shutting down almost 36pc of Corpoelec's operational power generation capacity at the Simon Bolivar complex would impact state-owned oil company PdV's core operations. PdV accounts for nearly all of the government?s revenue. Other state-owned industries such as steelmaker Sidor are already at a near standstill for lack of energy supply.

Maduro, who is under growing pressure to resign from within his own PSUV party amid an acute economic crisis, could also face extensive street protests.

Motta last week modified Corpoelec's initial rationing program launched in mid-February that included Caracas in four hours of daily mandatory cuts. He exempted the capital from the rationing and ordered the utility to "guarantee power to Caracas at any cost," Corpoelec tells Argus.

Despite some recent rainfall, precipitation levels in the Caroni River Basin that where Guri are located are substantially below seasonal historical averages for this time of year, government weather agency Inameh said.

Inameh says heavy rainfall could start in the basin by July, some two months later than the electricity ministry expects.