Brasilia Summer Time (Historical)

UTC offset: -02:00 (historical, summer only)
Standard offset: -03:00 (BRT, current year-round)
IANA identifier: America/Sao_Paulo
Abbreviation: BRST (no longer active)
DST status: Discontinued (abolished 2019)

Brasilia Summer Time advanced southeastern and southern Brazil one hour from BRT (UTC-03:00) to UTC-02:00 during the southern hemisphere summer. The practice ran fairly consistently from 1985 to 2019, when President Bolsonaro signed a decree ending it permanently. Brazil has not observed DST since.

BRST covered Brazil's most populous states (Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Parana, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul, Goias, and the Federal District), representing roughly 130 million of Brazil's 215 million people. Northern and equatorial states were exempted because their proximity to the equator made DST pointless.

Why It Was Abolished

The energy argument collapsed. Brazil's electricity grid changed:

• LED lighting replaced incandescent bulbs (reducing evening lighting demand)
• Air conditioning grew (shifting peak demand to afternoon, unaffected by clock changes)
• Solar/wind generation grew (independent of consumer behavior)

Studies by 2018 showed DST savings had fallen to approximately 0.5% of national electricity consumption, down from 1-2% in the 1990s. Meanwhile:

• 75% of Brazilians polled opposed DST
• Health concerns about disrupted sleep gained public attention
• The agricultural sector (early morning schedules) complained about dark mornings

Sao Paulo

Population about 12.3 million (city), ~22 million (metro). South America's largest city and Brazil's financial capital. The Bovespa stock exchange, major banks, and corporate headquarters cluster in Paulista Avenue/Faria Lima. The city's latitude (23.5S, nearly on the Tropic of Capricorn) means summer days reach about 13.5 hours, long enough for DST to have modest utility.

Rio de Janeiro

Population about 6.7 million (city), ~13 million (metro). Brazil's cultural capital, tourism center, and former political capital (until Brasilia was built in 1960). Carnival (February/March), occurring during the old BRST period, meant evening festivities enjoyed an extra hour of natural light during the blocos (street parties).

Carnival and DST

Carnival timing was an interesting interaction. The BRST period typically ran November to February/March. Carnival falls in February or March. The extended evening daylight during BRST meant blocos and street events started in daylight and ran into evening, aligning festivities with the natural cycle. Since 2019, Carnival proceeds without DST.

The States That Participated

Technical Identifiers

• America/Sao_Paulo (IANA canonical)
• BRST (Brasilia Summer Time, UTC-02:00, historical)
• BRT (current, Brasilia Time, UTC-03:00)
• Windows: "E. South America Standard Time"
• DST abolished by presidential decree, 2019
• Schedule was: third Sunday October to third Sunday February (approximately)

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