ID :
192345
Fri, 07/01/2011 - 18:20
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/192345
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Power-saving efforts start in Japan
TOKYO (Kyodo) - The government started restricting on Friday electricity consumption by large-lot users in eastern and northeastern Japan to avert power shortages in the wake of the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster.
Under the nation's first mandatory power-saving drive in 37 years, or since the first oil shock, large-lot users in the service areas of Tokyo Electric Power Co. and Tohoku Electric Power Co. are required to reduce electricity consumption by 15 percent from a year earlier during peak usage hours on weekdays.
Those who intentionally violate the restriction face fines of up to 1 million yen.
Industry minister Banri Kaieda also called on households to cooperate, saying at a press conference, ''We ask people in each household to save the use of electricity.''
Japanese companies and households are under pressure to curtail electric power usage this summer to avoid triggering power blackouts if demand exceeds diminished power generation capacity in regions when numbers of power plants were damaged by the March natural calamities.
The government has asked small-lot users and households to voluntarily cut electricity consumption, also by 15 percent, by working out power saving plans involving such steps as curtailing the use of air conditioners and unnecessary lighting.
However, Kaieda warned against an excessive cut in the use of air conditioning as that could bring on heatstroke in hot weather.
The power-saving requirement has led numbers of major Japanese companies, including Sony Corp. and the Tokyo Stock Exchange Group Inc., to bring forward the start of the business day by one hour.
Sony also moved up by one hour the end of normal working hours to 5 p.m. and began to turn off air-conditioning at its headquarters at 6 p.m. to compel its employees to go home.
A 34-year-old female employee of the electronics giant, who has a 1-year-old boy, welcomed the move. ''There is a mood in the entire company that we should all go home early, so things are easier for people who need to balance work and child-raising.''
But a 45-year-old male worker said a train he rode was packed as he now came to office earlier than usual and when many students are headed to school. And a 24-year-old female worker of the Tokyo Stock Exchange said it was hard to wake up early.
Given corporate moves to bring forward the start of the business day, railway operators have decided to increase train services in the early morning. But East Japan Railway Co. has been operating 200 fewer train services per day in the Tokyo metropolitan area since June 24 to save electricity.
The power-saving restriction is in effect between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. on weekdays through Sept. 22 in Tokyo Electric's service area and Sept. 9 in Tohoku Electric's. Large-lot users are required to report their power usage to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry four times during the period.
Hospitals that provide emergency treatment and shelters for evacuees from the March 11 disaster are exempted, while the reduction target will be relaxed to up to 10 percent for medical, nursing-care and transportation service providers.
Power-saving efforts were also going on in the disaster-hit areas in northeastern Japan.
Fujisaki department store in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, reduced lighting at the store and set air-conditioner temperature higher than usual at 28 C. At Tohoku Bank, a regional bank in Iwate Prefecture, the number of operating automated teller machines at its 48 outlets has been reduced.
At major consumer electronics retailers in Fukushima, the capital of Fukushima Prefecture, fans were widely sold out after many people bought them to use instead of air conditioners to save electricity.
Energy-saving efforts also started in the Kansai region surrounding Osaka, where Kansai Electric Power Co. has asked households and firms in its service area to voluntarily cut power consumption by around 15 percent through Sept. 22 due to suspension of operations at its nuclear reactors.
Some public facilities in the region have decided to raise preset temperatures of air conditioners or turn them off during certain times of the day.
Under the nation's first mandatory power-saving drive in 37 years, or since the first oil shock, large-lot users in the service areas of Tokyo Electric Power Co. and Tohoku Electric Power Co. are required to reduce electricity consumption by 15 percent from a year earlier during peak usage hours on weekdays.
Those who intentionally violate the restriction face fines of up to 1 million yen.
Industry minister Banri Kaieda also called on households to cooperate, saying at a press conference, ''We ask people in each household to save the use of electricity.''
Japanese companies and households are under pressure to curtail electric power usage this summer to avoid triggering power blackouts if demand exceeds diminished power generation capacity in regions when numbers of power plants were damaged by the March natural calamities.
The government has asked small-lot users and households to voluntarily cut electricity consumption, also by 15 percent, by working out power saving plans involving such steps as curtailing the use of air conditioners and unnecessary lighting.
However, Kaieda warned against an excessive cut in the use of air conditioning as that could bring on heatstroke in hot weather.
The power-saving requirement has led numbers of major Japanese companies, including Sony Corp. and the Tokyo Stock Exchange Group Inc., to bring forward the start of the business day by one hour.
Sony also moved up by one hour the end of normal working hours to 5 p.m. and began to turn off air-conditioning at its headquarters at 6 p.m. to compel its employees to go home.
A 34-year-old female employee of the electronics giant, who has a 1-year-old boy, welcomed the move. ''There is a mood in the entire company that we should all go home early, so things are easier for people who need to balance work and child-raising.''
But a 45-year-old male worker said a train he rode was packed as he now came to office earlier than usual and when many students are headed to school. And a 24-year-old female worker of the Tokyo Stock Exchange said it was hard to wake up early.
Given corporate moves to bring forward the start of the business day, railway operators have decided to increase train services in the early morning. But East Japan Railway Co. has been operating 200 fewer train services per day in the Tokyo metropolitan area since June 24 to save electricity.
The power-saving restriction is in effect between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. on weekdays through Sept. 22 in Tokyo Electric's service area and Sept. 9 in Tohoku Electric's. Large-lot users are required to report their power usage to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry four times during the period.
Hospitals that provide emergency treatment and shelters for evacuees from the March 11 disaster are exempted, while the reduction target will be relaxed to up to 10 percent for medical, nursing-care and transportation service providers.
Power-saving efforts were also going on in the disaster-hit areas in northeastern Japan.
Fujisaki department store in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, reduced lighting at the store and set air-conditioner temperature higher than usual at 28 C. At Tohoku Bank, a regional bank in Iwate Prefecture, the number of operating automated teller machines at its 48 outlets has been reduced.
At major consumer electronics retailers in Fukushima, the capital of Fukushima Prefecture, fans were widely sold out after many people bought them to use instead of air conditioners to save electricity.
Energy-saving efforts also started in the Kansai region surrounding Osaka, where Kansai Electric Power Co. has asked households and firms in its service area to voluntarily cut power consumption by around 15 percent through Sept. 22 due to suspension of operations at its nuclear reactors.
Some public facilities in the region have decided to raise preset temperatures of air conditioners or turn them off during certain times of the day.
