Tag - electricity

 
 

ELECTRICITY

EDITORIALS
Aug 24, 2014
Don't bank on nuclear restarts
Power companies are moving again to raise their electricity rates to get out of dire financial straits caused by the increased cost of importing fuel to run more thermal power plants while their nuclear power reactors remain idled.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 29, 2014
Preparing for the next big solar storm
The probability of a solar storm striking Earth in the next decade with enough force to do serious damage to electricity networks, lasting perhaps for months, could be as high as 12 percent.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 23, 2014
Orix plans to build as many as 15 geothermal plants in Japan
Orix Corp. plans to build as many as 15 geothermal power stations in Japan over the next five years.
BUSINESS
Jul 7, 2014
Electricity gold rush heralds end for monopolies
Watami Co., a restaurant chain known best as a hangout for salarymen, is getting into the business of selling power — and it isn't alone.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 12, 2014
Politics at the root of India's power problems
India finally has an integrated nationwide power system. Now it needs to sweep away the entrenched interests in the state electricity boards and shift to a full cost-recovery model.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 11, 2014
Households free to choose power supplier
The Diet on Wednesday enacted legislation to end the grip regional monopolies have held for 60 years on the household electricity market by opening it up to greater competition.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 22, 2014
IHI sees future for small geothermal projects amid clean energy boom
IHI Corp. expects the market for small geothermal projects to take off in Japan as it seeks cleaner sources of energy.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 16, 2014
No electricity-saving targets this summer
The government said Friday it won't set numerical power-saving targets this summer even though concerns about shortages linger, especially among suppliers in the west and southwest.
JAPAN
Apr 17, 2014
Electric firms likely to make it through summer
The major electric utilities are again expected to secure their minimum power capacity requirements by the time demand peaks in August, with or without nuclear power, their estimates showed Thursday.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 12, 2014
Shift to green energy would barely slow growth, U.N. report says
A radical shift from fossil fuels to low-carbon energy would slow world economic growth by only a tiny fraction every year, a new draft U.N. report on tackling global warming said on Friday.
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 14, 2014
New way found to convert natural gas
U.S. scientists said Thursday they have devised a potentially easier, cheaper and cleaner way to turn natural gas into usable fuels and chemicals — a discovery that could lead to natural gas products displacing oil products in the future.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2014
Local Japanese green power advocates to forge national association
A group of 38 local green power advocacy groups plan to set up a national association by June in an effort to break away from nuclear power generation.
BUSINESS
Feb 28, 2014
Retail electricity market bills passed
The government approved bills Friday that will set the stage for Japan to move ahead with liberalization of the retail electricity market, something that has largely been dominated by regional monopolies over the past 60 years.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2014
'Solar girl' sheds reliance on Tepco for spartan life on the edge of the grid
It was August 2012 when Chikako Fujii had one of the most memorable conversations of her life. That moment came when a bill collector from Tokyo Electric Power Co. rang her doorbell in the west Tokyo suburb of Kunitachi and told her with finality that she had an important choice to make.
EDITORIALS
Nov 24, 2013
Monitor power industry reform
Close monitoring in necessary to ensure that reform of the power industry does not get derailed by vested interests.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 1, 2013
Power reform bill advances
The House of Representatives passed a bill Friday to achieve the first stage of a major plan to reform the electricity sector, moving it closer to Diet passage.
BUSINESS
Nov 1, 2013
Hokkaido asked to use 6% less electricity this winter
The government said Friday it wants households and companies in Hokkaido to cut electricity usage by more than 6 percent from the fiscal 2010 level to ride out another winter without nuclear power.
JAPAN
Oct 29, 2013
Chubu Electric seventh utility to seek household rate hike
Chubu Electric Power Co. made it official Tuesday and applied for approval to raise household electricity fees, the seventh utility to seek higher rates amid the nuclear shutdown caused by the Fukushima disaster.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 28, 2013
Tepco to hasten smart meter debut
Tokyo Electric Power Co. plans to introduce next-generation smart meters that can transmit electricity consumption data for all households in its service area by the end of March 2021, three years ahead of schedule, Tepco officials said Monday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Japan Pulse
Aug 12, 2013
Recycled udon — a viable energy alternative or a sign of extreme extravagance?
Instead fermenting udon scraps for electricity, shouldn't we reduce the amount of food we are wasting in the first place?

Longform

Traditional folk rituals like Mizudome-no-mai (dance to stop the rain) provide a sense of agency to a population that feels largely powerless in the face of the climate crisis.
As climate extremes intensify, Japan embraces ancient weather rituals