Rio, 3/9/2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The president of Eletrobras promises that the Reluz (Efficient Public Illumination) Program will deliver electricity cheaply and efficiently to an additional 900 municipalities. The program has a budget of R$400 million, which is part of a larger budget totalling R$1.4 billion that is to connect the whole country to the electricity grid.

In 2003, a total of 367 cities were connected as part of the Reluz program. At the moment, another 1,074 cities are being connected.

Since the year 2000, Eletrobras has spent R$44 million (R$30 million of that last year) in connecting over 2,000 municipalities and placing 3 million lamps for public illumination. (AB)