ID :
194379
Tue, 07/12/2011 - 02:28
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/194379
The shortlink copeid
TOKYO REPORT: Metropolitan Govt Stepping Up Power Saving
Tokyo, July 11 (Jiji Press)--The Tokyo metropolitan government is stepping up efforts to avert a projected power shortage of 6.2 million kilowatts in the nation's capital and its vicinity at the end of July as a result of the nuclear crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s <9501> Fukushima No. 1 power plant.
Power-saving efforts are being implemented under a package of measures adopted by the metropolitan government in late May.
For example, experts are advising businesses how to cut their use of electricity. For the household sector, which accounts for 30 pct of total power consumption, some 3,000 advisers on power saving from consumer cooperative societies are visiting one million households.
The metropolitan government is also striving to reduce electricity use in its building this summer, by 25 pct from a year earlier. The target is steeper than the 15 pct cut mandated by the central government for large-lot users in the service areas of Tokyo Electric and Tohoku Electric Power Co. <9506>, whose power generation facilities were also damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disaster.
For example, the Tokyo government has turned off half the lights in the building and moved forward the start of working hours of officials.
But as the effects of power-saving efforts by the metropolitan government alone are limited, Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, jointly with his counterparts from three neighboring prefectures--Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa--submitted a set of requests to the central government in April.
When the use of electricity nears the capacity of supply, for example, the government should issue a reminder on TV that home appliances need to be unplugged, the four governors said.
They also called for a legal revision to restrict the operation of ubiquitous vending machines and "pachinko" pinball parlors.
Ishihara pointed to vending machine operators as excessive users of electricity following the nuclear plant accident. The Democratic Party of Japan in the metropolitan assembly plans to make a proposal to curb the consumption of electricity by vending machines.
Vending machine operators have therefore compiled an industry-wide plan to voluntarily shorten refrigeration hours to cut back power consumption.
But noting that the operation of vending machines meets demand from consumers and contributes to preventing crimes through lighting, operators complain that the Tokyo government should not target specific business sectors for power-saving efforts.
The metropolitan government considers it impossible to address power shortages on a long-term basis only by asking for power-saving efforts and imposing limits on corporate usage. It therefore has started to contemplate building a power generation plant that uses natural gas, sources said.
To implement the project, the government needs to clear a number of hurdles, including gaining the support of Tokyo residents and securing funding sources.
Power-saving efforts are being implemented under a package of measures adopted by the metropolitan government in late May.
For example, experts are advising businesses how to cut their use of electricity. For the household sector, which accounts for 30 pct of total power consumption, some 3,000 advisers on power saving from consumer cooperative societies are visiting one million households.
The metropolitan government is also striving to reduce electricity use in its building this summer, by 25 pct from a year earlier. The target is steeper than the 15 pct cut mandated by the central government for large-lot users in the service areas of Tokyo Electric and Tohoku Electric Power Co. <9506>, whose power generation facilities were also damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disaster.
For example, the Tokyo government has turned off half the lights in the building and moved forward the start of working hours of officials.
But as the effects of power-saving efforts by the metropolitan government alone are limited, Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, jointly with his counterparts from three neighboring prefectures--Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa--submitted a set of requests to the central government in April.
When the use of electricity nears the capacity of supply, for example, the government should issue a reminder on TV that home appliances need to be unplugged, the four governors said.
They also called for a legal revision to restrict the operation of ubiquitous vending machines and "pachinko" pinball parlors.
Ishihara pointed to vending machine operators as excessive users of electricity following the nuclear plant accident. The Democratic Party of Japan in the metropolitan assembly plans to make a proposal to curb the consumption of electricity by vending machines.
Vending machine operators have therefore compiled an industry-wide plan to voluntarily shorten refrigeration hours to cut back power consumption.
But noting that the operation of vending machines meets demand from consumers and contributes to preventing crimes through lighting, operators complain that the Tokyo government should not target specific business sectors for power-saving efforts.
The metropolitan government considers it impossible to address power shortages on a long-term basis only by asking for power-saving efforts and imposing limits on corporate usage. It therefore has started to contemplate building a power generation plant that uses natural gas, sources said.
To implement the project, the government needs to clear a number of hurdles, including gaining the support of Tokyo residents and securing funding sources.
