According the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), the residents of the greater Tokyo metropolitan area are facing the crisis of a power shortage this summer because most of the company's nuclear reactors will remain shut down for inspections and repairs stemming from last year's discovery that the company had for years failed to report safety violations at its nuclear facilities.
The utility is currently running a public-relations campaign that calls on customers to cut electricity consumption so as to avoid potential blackouts this summer.
Because everyone agrees that saving energy is a good idea the campaign seems irreproachable, but when analyzed in conjunction with its stated purpose -- to avoid blackouts -- it sounds strange. Generators produce power to meet demand for electricity from moment to moment, so "saving" energy right now has no effect, say, several months down the road.