Are the clocks moving forward? Will Ukraine continue changing time, and does it actually save energy?

In a month, Ukraine will switch to "daylight saving time" unless a law passed in 2024 is signed. Historically, this practice has been linked to energy conservation, but there are fewer arguments supporting it now.

RBC-Ukraine explains why clocks are changed twice a year and whether it actually helps save energy.

The Verkhovna Rada passed a law to abolish seasonal clock changes in July of last year. It was expected that in October, Ukraine would adjust the clocks for the last time and from January 1, 2025, would operate on permanent "winter time."

The explanatory note justifies the necessity of the abolition based on political and medical reasons. The former is aimed at strengthening national security, as Russia establishes Moscow time in the occupied territories. The latter indicates that "seasonal jumps" forward or backward negatively impact people's physiological and psychological well-being. Additionally, chronic diseases worsen during the clock changes.

Moreover, as the authors of the bill note, "it has been proven that changing the clocks does not contribute to energy savings." However, this was not always the case, and many countries initially adopted this practice due to energy concerns.

History of Clock Changes: From War to Energy Crisis

The idea of seasonal time changes is attributed to American founding father Benjamin Franklin, who, while serving as ambassador to France in 1784, proposed it to save on candle usage. In the early 20th century, the idea gained traction in Britain, where King Edward VII even implemented "daylight saving time" in his estates.

Germany and Austria-Hungary were the first to officially change the clocks at the state level. During World War I, in 1916, they moved the clocks forward by an hour in the spring and back by an hour in the fall. Soon after, Britain and the USA followed suit, adopting "daylight saving time" during the war to conserve fuel for electricity generation.

The US adopted regular clock changes starting in 1966, while Europe followed suit in the 1980s due to the need to conserve resources amid the global oil crisis. The Soviet Union also adopted this practice around the same time, and consequently, so did Soviet Ukraine. In independent Ukraine, seasonal time changes have been both introduced and abolished, but in 1996, a summer/winter time scheme was established. Since then, clocks have been set forward an hour on the last Sunday in March and set back an hour on the last Sunday in October.

Currently, about 70 countries around the world adhere to this practice, including nearly all European nations. However, many countries—particularly in Asia and Africa—have abandoned it. Among them, just in the last decade, are Azerbaijan, Iran, Jordan, Namibia, the Russian Federation, Syria, Turkey, and Uruguay.

Is There Any Savings? What Modern Research Says

There is still no clear answer to whether changing the clocks saves electricity today. Some foreign studies question this argument. For instance, according to an Australian report on states that implemented daylight saving time two months earlier than usual to prepare for the 2000 Olympics, residents reduced their evening consumption, but the extra hour for street lighting negated the effect.

Yale University (USA) conducted studies in Indiana from 2004 to 2006 and concluded that with the clock changes, consumption actually increased by 1%, as air conditioners and heaters were used more. A meta-analysis of 44 studies across various countries in 2018 showed a decrease of 0.34%, but the data varied significantly depending on the methodology used.

In Turkey, no significant savings in electricity were found after it established permanent daylight saving time in 2016. Therefore, making concrete conclusions is difficult, partly because the savings issue largely depends on the geography and population of a particular country.

Many experts doubt that changing the clocks affects the energy sector. They label it as an outdated practice that lacks economic justification in a technologically advanced world compared to the 1980s. If there is any savings, it is at the level of statistical error.

Does Changing the Clocks Help Save Electricity in Ukraine?

After the Verkhovna Rada passed the law abolishing seasonal clock changes in July, Minister of Energy Herman Halushchenko seems to have put an end to the matter.

"Regarding the time change, the energy sector calculated how it would affect consumption and whether it would be dramatic to switch or not... We do not see any dramatic impact on the energy sector," he stated during a government question time.

Gennady Ryabcev, director of the "Psychea" center, explains that when preparing the bill, deputies reached out to the ministry and received a response indicating that there are no data proving the effect of energy savings.

"One could say that the assertion of savings is unfounded. There are no calculations that confirm its existence. For some reason, it is believed that such an effect exists. But no one can provide calculations to support it,"

On the other hand, there is proven negative health impacts, and studies from the Ministry of Health confirm that in the weeks following "seasonal jumps" forward or backward, there is an increase in emergency calls, the expert emphasizes.

In his view, Ukraine needs to establish "winter time" to align with solar time.

"And if, for example, someone is dissatisfied, they can always set different working hours. Nowadays, many places start the workday at different times than during the USSR. Enterprises can generally organize working hours at their discretion, based on how effectively their employees work,"

The issue of changing the clocks is no longer primarily about energy savings. Whether Ukrainians will move the clocks forward on March 30, 2025, remains unclear. The law abolishing this seasonal practice has been on the president's desk since August.

Preparation utilized information from open sources, publications from Euronews, Bloomberg, The Guardian, and comments from Gennady Ryabcev, director of the "Psychea" center.