Tag - electricity

 
 

ELECTRICITY

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?
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 7, 2013
Chubu Electric to acquire 80% of power retailer
Chubu Electric Power Co. signs a contract to acquire an 80 percent interest in Diamond Power Corp., a small electricity supplier affiliated with Mitsubishi Corp., on Oct. 1.
BUSINESS
Aug 6, 2013
Hokkaido, Tohoku, Shikoku utility rate hikes OK'd
Industry minister Toshimitsu Motegi on Tuesday approved electricity rate hikes for households requested by three utilities facing growing fuel costs amid the halt of their nuclear reactors.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 1, 2013
Utilities ordered to trim planned rate increases
The government on Thursday ordered three electric companies to trim planned household rate hikes by more than 2 percentage points after finding they had more room to reduce the costs they want to pass onto consumers.
BUSINESS
Jun 20, 2013
When the sun doesn't shine, who should pay?
It's a sight that would bring joy to anyone who has ever paid an electric bill: that little wheel on the meter outside your home literally spinning backward, signaling a reduction in your payment and the distribution of excess electricity to your neighbors.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 9, 2013
California utility to close San Onofre reactors
In a new setback for the U.S. nuclear power industry, Edison International said Friday it will permanently close the two reactors of its San Onofre plant in California, ending a contentious battle over whether they can be repaired and operated safely after cracks were found last year in the steam generator system.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 8, 2013
How does science explain a bolt from the blue?
Divine attribution In ancient times, the drama of thunder and lightning so clearly went beyond human scale that the phenomenon was handed wholesale to the gods. The Greeks had Zeus, the Romans Jupiter. At the head of the Hindu pantheon was Indra, while Norse mythology gave us Thor — all wielders of thunderbolts. Even when thunderstorms were not ascribed directly to the activity of a divine being, they were considered a disturbing premonition. Pliny the Elder, writing in the first century A.D., called them prophetic, direful and accursed.
BUSINESS
Apr 2, 2013
Electricity market to be freed up in '16
Consumers will be able to choose power suppliers that offer lower rates starting in 2016 following the government's decision to liberalize the electricity retail market.

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores