Tag - utilities

 
 

UTILITIES

Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 26, 2014
Regional utilities rebuff anti-nuclear shareholders with reactor restart plans
The regional power utilities told their shareholders at annual meetings Thursday they will try to reactivate their idled nuclear reactors to improve business and rejected all proposals calling for a nuclear phaseout.
JAPAN
Jun 24, 2014
Kyushu Electric submits reactor safety papers
Kyushu Electric Power Co. submitted on Tuesday additional documents required for safety reviews of two reactors that are considered the closest to being allowed to restart among the country's 48 offline commercial reactors, a nuclear regulatory official said.
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.
Japan Times
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jun 4, 2014
Atop Pacific 'Ring of Fire,' debate flares over volcanic risk to Japan's nuclear plants
In the three years since the Fukushima disaster, Japan's utilities have pledged $15 billion to harden their nuclear plants against earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes and terrorist attacks.
WORLD
Jun 1, 2014
China, India may hinder U.S. steps on warming
U.S. President Barack Obama is set to take his boldest step to halt the rise of the oceans and stop the warming of the planet. But it won't be enough unless the rest of the world follows.
JAPAN
May 30, 2014
Sendai nuclear plant evacuation plan may take 29 hours, Kagoshima says
The Kagoshima Prefectural Government estimates it will take about 29 hours for most people living within 30 km of the Sendai nuclear power plant to flee by vehicle in case of a serious nuclear accident.
EDITORIALS
May 23, 2014
Reflect on Fukui nuclear ruling
The Fukui District Court's ruling that prohibits the restart of two nuclear power reactors run by Kansai Electric Power Co. challenges the Abe administration's energy policy of relying on nuclear power as a key source of the nation's electricity supply.
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
May 14, 2014
NRA blames plant operators for prolonged reactor safety checks
The head of the Nuclear Regulation Authority said Wednesday that nuclear power plant operators, rather than regulators, are the ones to blame for the prolonged safety review of reactors that started last July.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 2, 2014
NRA raps Sendai plant for lack of safety info
Nuclear regulators said Friday that Kyushu Electric Power Co. has not provided enough information in a document outlining safety measures for two reactors the utility wants to restart.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 14, 2014
In test of post-Fukushima policy, town rallies for restart of reactors
For residents of Satsumasendai, their old nuclear plant jobs take priority over a quake they never felt and an atomic disaster they never had to deal with.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 26, 2014
Utilities eye more non-nuclear power output
Tokyo Electric Power Co. and three other utilities are contemplating boosting non-nuclear thermal power generation by either building new facilities or expanding existing plants.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 13, 2014
Sendai reactors at front of safety review line
Nuclear regulators decided Thursday to prioritize safety reviews for two reactors at the Sendai plant in Kagoshima Prefecture, which could mean they are the closest in the nation to restarting.
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2014
Chubu Electric applies to restart risk-laden Hamaoka nuclear plant
Chubu Electric Power Co. applies for a safety assessment for one of the three reactors at its Hamaoka nuclear plant in Shizuoka Prefecture despite the tsunami risk that forced its shutdown in 2011 at the request of Prime Minister Naoto Kan.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 3, 2014
Power companies offsetting reactor closures by hiking electricity rates
Power utilities, including Tokyo Electric Power Co., leaned on customer rate hikes to boost their financial performances in the first nine months of the business year as idled nuclear plants kept fuel costs high.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 31, 2014
Utilities lobbying LDP to support new nuclear plants
The Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan is lobbying politicians in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to support the construction of new nuclear power plants, sources said Friday.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Nov 17, 2013
Cracks in Tepco's 3/11 narrative
Tepco will never accept the theory that the earthquake, not the tsunami, caused the Fukushima nuclear disaster because it would make it difficult to restart its other nuclear power plants.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2013
Nuclear disaster drill aims for more realism
The government on Friday kicked off a two-day nuclear evacuation drill — its first since the 2011 Fukushima No. 1 power plant disaster — with the aim of making the exercise more realistic than its usual scripted rehearsals.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2013
Power-saving targets likely to be dropped this winter
This winter is likely to be Japan's first without numerical power-saving targets since 2011 despite the loss of all atomic power, sources say.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 19, 2013
90% of utilities fail to meet carbon dioxide reduction targets
Nine of the nation's 10 utilities failed to meet their self-imposed five-year targets for reducing carbon dioxide emissions by an average of 20 percent, an industry body said Monday.

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