Daylight Saving Time Advanced

Saving energy will be the main concern of the Americans on Sunday as the United States makes its annual move of Daylight Saving Time in order to make use of longer hours of natural light.

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 had the provision to begin daylight-saving on the second Sunday in March and end it the first Sunday in November. Initially the start day was the first Sunday in April but now it has been advanced three weeks which means saving extra energy.

The Congress believes with longer hours of daylight, less artificial light will be used. For this idea to take effect the Americans set their clocks one hour forward and turn them back again as the saving of daylight ceases.

Concerns have been raised on the affect the change may have on technology, specifically computers. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) opposed the move from the beginning, arguing that "managing the exercise will add up to hundreds of millions of dollars in costs" to the airline industry but many say they are prepared for the move and will not face any major troubles.

Having been familiar with the law for quite a while, IATA Public Affairs Officer Steve Lott said, “we are confident that airlines had enough time to adjust flight schedules and there should not be any major problems."

A spokesperson of the New York Stock Exchange said that their system is expected to function normally on March 11. But how the internal clocks in computers and PDAs and cellphones will react is a fact that seems to be worrying many.

Last time a U.S. congressional hearing on extending daylight saving time was in 1985, which led to a one-month extension the following year. Forbes magazine estimated after the month extension in 1986, sales at 7-11 stores increased by $30-million to $50-million.

“Women feel safer in urban areas to shop on their way home when there’s light,” said Michael Downing, author of Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time. “They’ve known that from the beginning and that’s why big cities adopted daylight savings even when smaller rural areas wouldn’t take it.”

A study conducted by the US Department of Transportation in 1970s, projected 1 per cent saving of total electricity usage for each day of Daylight Saving Time. Department of Energy has been asked to study the forthcoming extended Daylight Saving season for electricity dividends.