Tag - electricity

 
 

ELECTRICITY

California has ambitious climate policies. But the state should shift more green energy-related costs from electricity bills to taxes to promote fairness and sustainability.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 9, 2024
California's crushing power bills challenge its climate goals
California is incredible, but making it livable, what with its droughts, floods, fault-lines and wildfires, has never been cheap.
Portable power supply devices at a Bic Camera electronics store in Tokyo
JAPAN
Sep 8, 2024
Sales of portable power supply devices surge amid heightened disaster preparedness
Jackery, a U.S.-based major portable power supply solution firm, saw a sharp climb in sales in Japan after the possible Nankai Trough quake alert issued on Aug. 8.
The government has decided to continue offering subsidies to curb electricity, gas and gasoline bills until the end of this year.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2024
Japan to spend additional ¥980 billion to curb energy bills
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that his Cabinet plans to approve the additional spending on Sept. 3.
Naotoshi Iwamoto of Kansai Transmission and Distribution explains about how power grid operators cooperated to restore electricity in areas affected by the Jan. 1 Noto Peninsula earthquake.
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2024
Industry collaboration leads to early power recovery in Noto
Eight regional utility groups dispatched a total of more than 4,000 workers to help restore power to more than 90% of outage-hit areas within about a month of the quake.
Power lines on the highway between Shanghai and Suzhou, China, on Oct. 23, 2023
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 12, 2024
China rapidly expands battery fleet but needs to start using it
China’s new energy storage capacity jumped to 44 gigawatts at the end of June, a 40% increase from the start of the year.
A solar farm in Dunhuang, northwest of Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China. Last year, China broke records in adding new wind turbines and solar panels. This year, it’s set on making sure people use them.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Aug 9, 2024
China’s policy blitz shows fresh resolve to support clean energy
China's latest moves signal a change in priorities taking place in Beijing to move to cleaner energy.
Inside TSMC’s plant in Taiwan. Chip plants, with rows of advanced equipment, require massive amounts of electricity.
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Aug 5, 2024
TSMC’s Kumamoto plant pledges to use 100% renewables despite high costs
The move is not just an exercise of corporate responsibility but also a response to demands from the chipmaker's large customers.
The electricity bill for a standard household in the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings service area for August is expected to fall by ¥1,061.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2024
Tepco bill to fall by ¥1,000 for standard household in August
The government has decided to resume a subsidy program for three months starting August.
An air conditioning unit being installed in Kotor, Montenegro, on June 22. Life almost stopped in Montenegro’s capital Podgorica earlier this summer, with cars and buses getting stuck in gridlock as traffic lights went out, the internet crashed and security alarms blared in reaction to a sudden loss of power supply.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Jul 15, 2024
The world’s power grids are failing as the planet warms
Hotter summers cause spikes in demand for cooling, but upgrades to power infrastructure haven’t kept pace with climate change.
While Tokyo has secured enough fuel to deal with expected surges in power demand as temperatures rise this summer, economy minister Ken Saito is urging people not to waste electricity.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 12, 2024
Japan on ‘high alert’ for summer power shortages, economy minister says
Thermal power facilities put on maintenance earlier this year are set to come online by end-July while earlier fixes are expected for other equipment failures.
A gyrotron, which is used to heat plasma for nuclear fusion reactions, developed by Kyoto Fusioneering
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Jul 7, 2024
Kyoto Fusioneering looks toward a 'Made in Japan' approach for nuclear fusion
Although it recognizes that international collaboration is key, the startup sees the country playing an integral role in the fusion ecosystem.
Support staff dispatched by power firms work to restore electrical equipment in an area hit by the Noto Peninsula earthquake in Ishikawa Prefecture.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jun 4, 2024
Major Japan power firms boost cooperation on disaster response
The electric power sector has established a framework to streamline the dispatch of support personnel and facilitate mutual aid to cover restoration expenses.
J-Power's Takasago thermal power plant in Takasago, Hyogo Prefecture in 2022
BUSINESS / Companies
May 10, 2024
J-Power may close up to five coal power plants by fiscal 2030
The company's objective is to slash emissions by 46% from 2013 levels by 2030.
Smokestacks at an Israel Electric Corp power station are seen from the Mediterranean, about 10 kilometers from the coastal Israeli city of Hadera, in 2014.
WORLD
May 2, 2024
Could Israel keep the lights on and water running during regional war?
Israel's energy minister says blackouts and disruptions are unlikely in the country in the case of a multifront war.
A key aspect of AI technology that is often forgotten is that it requires an enormous amount of energy to develop and run. And that’s where utilities come in.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Apr 28, 2024
AI boom’s secret winners? The companies expected to power it
Across the U.S., utilities are preparing for historic increases in electricity demand led by data centers and AI.
The Anegasaki gas-fired power station in Chiba Prefecture
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2024
Rapidly weakening yen threatens higher power bills
Pricier power illustrates the far-reaching impact of the yen’s decline.
Mercuria Energy Group is gearing up to engage in physical power trading in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 5, 2024
Mercuria joins trader push into Japan’s spot electricity market
That follows moves by other European energy companies, including BP and Engie, to expand in one of the biggest power-consuming nations.
Japan’s power supply is expected to be sufficient for both the upcoming summer and winter, according to government forecasts.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 2, 2024
Japan forecasts sufficient power for upcoming summer and winter
Japan’s grid has proven fragile in the past, which has sometimes forced the government to ask households and businesses to conserve electricity.
Yoshifumi Murase, commissioner of the industry ministry's Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, (left) meets Niigata Gov. Hideyo Hanazumi on Thursday in Niigata Prefecture in an effort to seek understanding for restarting Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings' Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 22, 2024
Local support sought for Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant restart
A representative from an agency of the industry ministry highlighted the "severe" energy supply situation in eastern Japan.
Vitol, the world's largest independent oil trader, is considering opening an office in Tokyo to trade electricity, sources said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 16, 2024
Vitol considers entering Japan power market with Tokyo office
Japan's power market is attracting more overseas firms due to increased volatility amid shifts away from fossil fuels

Longform

A woman passes an "akichi" (vacant lot) in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo. The capital is littered with such small lots in part because of Japan's aging and shrinking population.
Dealing with rising land vacancies as Japan shrinks