Venezuela Cuts Sony’s Power Off

Venezuela’s Electricidad de Caracas CA, which provides electricity to the capital Caracas, will suspend power to 80 businesses tomorrow for 24 hours. The businesses, including Sony’s local unit, Sony de Venezuela SA, failed to reduce electricity consumption by 20 percent or more as ordered by President Hugo Chavez. He issued the decree to avoid a collapse of the power grid as a severe drought shrinks hydroelectric production that provides more than 66 percent of Venezuela’s electricity, according to a statement published today in the Ultimas Noticias newspaper.

Those losing supply mostly include restaurants in Caracas along with the Caraballeda Yacht Club, several hotels and the state-run Fondo Unico Social which handles financing for Chavez’s social programs, the statement said.

The businesses may lose power for as long as three days or face an indefinite cut if they fail to reduce power consumption in coming weeks, the statement said.

“We have to cut power to a group of nearly 100 high consumers,” Chavez said today on his “Alo Presidente” on state television. “Others are on a waiting list because they continue to waste electricity. If they continue like this they’ll lose power indefinitely.”

Danish food maker East Asiatic Co.’s local unit Plumrose Latinoamericana CA, Mexican food maker Grupo Bimbo SAB’s local unit, China’s Huawei Technologies de Venezuela, Canadian oil field servicing company Eveready de Venezuela CA and state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA were all recognized for complying with the energy decree, according to the statement.