Venezuela will begin rationing electricity Monday for four hours daily in the 10 most-populated states, including five states with oil operations, electricity minister Luis Motta said Thursday. The states affected by the electricity rationing plan are Zulia, Caracas, Carabobo, Aragua, Lara, Bolivar, Miranda, Barinas, Monagas and Falcon. Motta did not say whether the electricity rationing will affect oil operations in Zulia, Carabobo, Barinas, Monagas and Falcon. Power rationing is being imposed because of the collapse of Venezuela’s hydroelectric power system because of drought. “The electricity rationing extends for 40 days or until the rains fill the reservoir of El Guri, where the highest percentage of hydroelectricity is generated,” Motta said. The supply-demand imbalance was shown by a document drafted in February by a group of experts who said Venezuela’s installed electric generation capacity has fallen to 11,309 MW from 24,000 MW, while the peak demand has risen to 18,300 […]