Majlis Research Center, the influential research arm of the parliament, expressed its strong objection to officially abolishing a law based on which Daylight Saving Time is practiced.
According to a report recently published by the center, DST saves energy and its abolition will be detrimental to the energy sector, the Energy Today's website reported.
Some MPs have proposed a bill to end the practice of adjusting the clock.
DTS helps decline energy consumption by at least 3% and reduces electricity use during peak demand (1 p.m. and 5 p.m.) by about 2%, the report said.
The rationale behind the study of DST-related energy savings was that energy use and the demand for electricity for lighting homes is directly related to the times when people go to bed at night and rise in the morning.
In the average home, 25% of electricity are used for lighting and small appliances, such as TVs and stereos. A good percentage of energy consumed by lighting and appliances occurs in the evening when families are home. By moving the clock ahead one hour, the amount of electricity consumed each day decreases.
Studies conducted in other countries show that DTS trims the entire country's electricity usage by a small but significant amount, about 3% each day, because less electricity is used for lighting and appliances.
For example, in New Zealand, power companies have found that power usage decreases by 3.5% when daylight saving starts. In the first week, peak evening consumption commonly drops by around 5%.
According to Hassan Motavallizadeh, the former head of state-run Iran Power Generation, Distribution and Transmission Company (Tavanir), power deficit in Iran amounted to 10,000 megawatts last summer and not abiding by laws like DTS can further deteriorate the situation.
“Under the circumstances, the best and practical solution to meet growing demand is to make people aware and convince them” to use less power and act rationally.
DST is the practice of moving the clocks forward one hour from Standard Time during the spring, which lasts through summer, and changing them back again in the fall.
The general idea is that this allows us to make better use of natural daylight: moving the clocks forward one hour in the spring grants us more daylight during summer evenings, while moving clocks back one hour in the fall grants us more daylight during winter mornings.
In 2007, the Majlis passed a bill mandating the official time to be changed twice a year.
According to the bill, the official time is changed once at the beginning of the calendar year (on March 20, or March 21 in leap years) and once at the start of the second half of the year.
The Majlis Research Center’s report strongly suggests that the law should be enforced as in the past and there are no reasons to end the practice of switching clocks.
