Osaka's "Third Way" to Conserve Electricity in Summer: Citizen Informants

The boy-wonder mayor of Osaka City, who wants to teach "the next generation" a lesson on electricity conservation by having them experience rolling blackouts, proposes his "third way" to combat electricity consumption during the peak hours in the hot summer days.

(As a reminder, the first way is to restart Ooi Nuclear Power Plant in Fukui Prefecture, and the second way is to have the rolling blackouts.)

What's his third way? Mainichi Shinbun says it is to turn the residents into the informants for the local government who will rat out businesses that look like using too much electricity.

From Mainichi Shinbun evening paper for Osaka (part; 5/15/2012):

一方、大阪府市エネルギー戦略会議は１５日、独自の節電策を提示した。照明が明るすぎるオフィスや店舗を住民が見つけて通報し、中小事業者に節電を促す「節電通報窓口」の設置や、真夏の午後に役所を閉めて節電するなど、家庭や事業者、官公庁などを対象に計約１１０万キロワットの節電を目指す。

On the other hand, the energy strategy conference of Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City proposed its own plan to save electricity on May 15. It includes setting up the "electricity saving informing counter" where the residents report offices and stores whose lighting is too bright, encouraging electricity saving among medium- and small-size businesses. The plan also calls for shutting down the government offices in the afternoon during the middle of summer. Overall, 1.1 million kilowatt saving is being targeted from households, businesses, and government offices.

I don't see why it should stop at reporting the seemingly wasteful businesses. Everybody against everybody else, like the life under the Stasi, except the Japanese are probably better at it than East Germans. After all, 250 years of peace during the Edo era (until the Black Ships appeared) were partly maintained by the "group of 5　households" in which people watched their 4 other neighboring households for suspicious behaviors, for mutual assistance, and for collective responsibility. That system was resurrected as the "neighborhood group" in the Showa era before the World War II, and it continues today as "voluntary" neighborhood association all over Japan, though without collective responsibility or mutual watch for suspicious behaviors.

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Mayor of Osaka City: Never Waste a Good Crisis, Younger Generation Needs to Experience Rolling Blackout

Toru Hashimoto, current Mayor of Osaka City and ex-Governor of Osaka Prefecture, wants the younger generation who does't know the first oil crisis (1973-74) to experience what it is like to live with the rolling blackouts. I suppose that includes him, having been born in 1969 and not even in the elementary school when the oil crisis hit. His older sidekick, Governor of Osaka Ichiro Matsui, is playing the "good cop" saying it's not that easy. A comedy routine.

Ah bright future for Japan when he is considered the forerunner to become the next Prime Minister. The other choices are equally bleak - Goshi Hosono, Yukio Edano, among others.

From Yomiuri Shinbun (5/14/2012), who has been one of the biggest cheerleaders for this boy-wonder mayor:

橋下徹大阪市長は１４日、関西電力大飯原発３、４号機（福井県おおい町）が再稼働しない場合に関西で深刻な電力不足が見込まれることについて、報道陣に「こういう状況は二度とない。次世代のために電力使用制限令とはどういうことなのか、しっかり経験することが必要だ」と述べ、制限令の受け入れもやむを得ないとの考えを示した。

Toru Hashimoto, Mayor of Osaka City, spoke to the press on the potentially serious power shortage in Kansai Region in case Reactors 3 and 4 of Ooi Nuclear Power Plant operated by Kansai Electric (KEPCO) do not restart [by summer]. He said, "This kind of situation will never materialize again. For the next generation [of people], it is necessary to fully experience what it will be like to live under the decree to restrict the usage of electricity", indicating his willingness to accept such a decree.

関電管内での制限令は１９７４年のオイルショック以来出されていない。

There has been no decree to restrict the usage of electricity within the areas supplied by KEPCO since 1974 oil crisis.

一方、松井一郎大阪府知事は、報道陣に「昨年の計画停電は、経済に大きな影響があった。電力制限を安易に『はい、そうですか』と受け入れるわけにはいかない」と述べた。

On the other hand, Governor of Osaka Ichiro Matsui told the press, "Last year's rolling blackouts severely affected the economy. Restriction of electricity usage cannot be accepted that easily."

滋賀県の嘉田由紀子知事も「必要とあればやむを得ないが、産業界への影響は避けるべきだ」と慎重な姿勢を示した。

Yukiko Kada, Governor of Shiga Prefecture, was also cautious, saying "If it's necessary, then it can't be helped. But the industry should not be affected by it."

So who should be affected? Household users I suppose, with electricity being cut off in the peak mid-day hours during the summer. To save the businesses and the economy. Very Japanese.

In the meantime, the town of Ooi-cho in Fukui Prefecture, where the nuclear power plant is located, is all for the re-start. At least the town assembly is, voting 11 to 1 in favor of the earliest restart. They say the town greatly benefits from the nuclear power plant. I'm sure it does, until it doesn't. Just ask mayors of Futaba-machi and Okuma-machi in Fukushima. The governor of Fukui Prefecture seems to be still holding out for more perks from the national government, and hasn't said yes to the restart.

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WSJ: Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency - Nuclear Power, or Blackout

Even after the horrendous accident at Fukushima I Nuke Plant, a top official at Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says Japan has no choice but move forward with nuclear power plants; the alternative is blackouts.

For those of you who've been wondering what's the difference between Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency and Nuclear Safety Commission. Even for many Japanese people, who are not aware that they are two different entities with very different attitudes toward nuclear energy.

The former, Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, is one of the agencies that belong to Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, which is an advocate and watchdog for just about every industry in Japan. The Agency is a strong advocate for the nuclear industry, and just like any other government agencies it is run by career bureaucrats, some with technical/science degrees but most with economics/finance/law/political science degrees.

The latter, Nuclear Safety Commission, is an adjunct to the Cabinet Office, and its commissioners are researchers and former professors from prominent institutions in nuclear research. The Commission "is charged with a range of missions including planning, deliberation and making decisions on regulations and policies related to nuclear safety as well as prevention of radiation hazards, based on expert knowledge on nuclear technologies and radiological protection" (from their statement), and advise the Prime Minister accordingly.

Here's a Wall Street Journal's article about the former, Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, from March 24, written by Norihiro Shirouzu. He wrote practically the same article in Japanese, though there were some interesting minor differences.

Shirouzu says that the Agency is an advocate for the industry, and hints that the rolling blackout that TEPCO started right after the earthquake in Tokyo metropolitan area may have been a way to send a message to the Japanese people: Without nuclear power, you are going to have blackouts.

Here's part of the article, which is based on the interview on March 23. (That information is not in the English article but in his Japanese article.)

From Wall Street Journal (emphasis added; 3/25/2011, Norihiro Shirouzu):

TOKYO—A top official at Japan's nuclear-safety regulatory agency sees no slowing in the country's campaign to expand atomic power, despite the battle to contain the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years, saying in an interview that the alternative is "blackouts."

"There aren't that many easy alternatives available for us," said Hidehiko Nishiyama, a former trade negotiator tapped to help deal with the Fukushima nuclear crisis, on Wednesday. "Japan couldn't go forward without nuclear power in order to meet its demand for energy today," he said. About 30% of Japan's electricity output comes from nuclear, and the government has set the goal of increasing that to 40% by 2020.

The 54-year-old career bureaucrat—who has emerged over the past two weeks as the public face of the government's efforts to calm a jittery global public—said industry is likely to face severe opposition to expanding reliance on nuclear power, especially as reports of the fallout intensify, with news Wednesday that Tokyo tap water had been contaminated.

But a significant curb in nuclear power would mean rampant blackouts, he warned. "I don't think anyone could imagine life without electricity," Mr. Nishiyama said in the 40-minute session. "Realistically, we need to come up with nuclear power stations that could withstand severe accidents," such as the earthquake and tsunami that threw the Fukushima Daiichi plant in northeastern Japan into a crisis. He said Japan and its nuclear-power industry need to find a solution to make reactors' backup power and cooling systems more resilient to such events.

That view mirrors Mr. Nishiyama's position as a top official in a bureaucracy —a director-general at Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry—that both regulates and promotes the nuclear-power industry.

The trade ministry, known as METI, has in recent months been revving up a push to help Japanese power companies win deals to build nuclear reactors abroad, as part of a larger effort to market Japan's "infrastructure technologies," such as nuclear energy and high-speed trains, aggressively overseas.

Mr. Nishiyama said Wednesday his agency—Japan Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency—"remains steadfastly independent" from the larger trade and industry ministry. He said Japan, as a country, has made sure of NISA's independence by setting up a second agency attached to the cabinet named the Nuclear Safety Commission.

NISA's independence from METI and the nuclear industry is just as steadfast as the Federal Reserve's independence from the US government and Wall Street.

The bureaucrat is openly blackmailing the Japanese. Accept the nuclear power plants that are "safe" by his Agency's standard, or suffer power blackouts.

This Fukushima I Nuke Plant accident (which by the way TEPCO and the Agency continue to refer as "event" or Jisho in Japanese) must have been a divine event to drive that message home. And TEPCO did such a haphazard, disastrous rolling blackout, which is taking a break for a few days.

There are many Japanese who are indeed cowered into accepting his premise - without nuclear power plants, they will have blackouts, and they will die of heat in the middle of summer or of cold in the dead of winter.

But more and more people are finally saying enough is enough, even if they are rather harshly criticized by pro-nuke people in Japan (split was about 50-50, even after the accident).

Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency's job is to make sure things are safe, for the industry.

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#Japan #Earthquake: METI Minister Warns of Unpredictable, Large-Scale Power Blackout

From Asahi Shinbun (in Japanese, emphasis added; 2:16PM JST 3/17/2011) and other papers:

Banri Kaieda, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, released a statement to the Japanese businesses and people that a large-scale power outage may happen, and there's no way of knowing when or how big. He asked the citizens to further conserve electricity in addition to the rolling blackout.

Electricity supply in the area served by TEPCO is 33.50 million kilowatt. However the demand this morning from 8 to 9AM was 32.92 million kilowatt. Mr. Kaieda warned that there may not be enough electricity during the demand peak hours in the evening and at night. The temperature is low on March 17, and there seems to be increased electricity demand for heating.

I read somewhere that Russians had said they could possibly provide electricity to Japan from Russian Far East. The offer would be gladly accepted by the people of Japan, even if their stupendously, almost willfully, incompetent government refuses the offer (to save their face and a-s).

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#Japan #Earthquake: Rolling Blackout Mess

Short message from my sister who lives in Tokyo:

Great confusion from the start. The rolling blackout groups that were announced yesterday by TEPCO are not valid any more this morning. TEPCO phone lines are down. No one knows when and where the blackout will happen.

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#Japan #Earthquake: More on Planned Rolling Blackout

Snippets from Yomiuri Shinbun (3/14/2011):

The rolling blackout planned by TEPCO, which was initially supposed to last for about a week, is now apparently up till middle of April. There's also a possibility that the rolling blackout will resume summer, when the electricity usage peaks.

Untimely delivery of conflicting information on the blackout from TEPCO is adding to confusion and anger among the local governments, residents and businesses in the affected area.

To make matters worse, TEPCO's website was down last night due to too many access requests. Their Japanese site seems to be working OK right now, but not their English site.

The power outage is about 4 to 8 hours total per day (daytime), depending on the area designated for blackout.

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#Japan #Earthquake: TEPCO Plans Rolling Blackout to Conserve Electricity

and different frequencies are partly to blame...

Main points from Nikkei Shinbun (original in Japanese, link, emphasis added; 3/12/2011):

TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Co.) announced the rolling blackout [intentionally engineered power outage] to start on Monday March 14, following the shutdown Fukushima I and II Nuclear Power Plants. Electricity supply from other power companies are limited.

Both businesses and households, including the households in metropolitan Tokyo, will be subject to the rolling blackout, which is the first since 1951 when TEPCO was created.

TEPCO's Vice President Fujimoto said in the press conference that for March 14, "The demand is expected to be 41 million kilowatt against the supply of 31 million kilowatt, resulting in 10 million kilowatt shortage". Fujimoto said he expects the rolling blackout to last at least a week.

TEPCO limited the power supply in 2007, when their nuclear power plant in Kashiwazaki with 7 reactors was shut down. However, the measure only applied to big corporate users, and it was only for 150,000 to 200,000 Kilowatts.

Part of the reason why TEPCO cannot count on electricity supply from other power companies is that TEPCO uses 50 Hertz as their line frequency, whereas the power companies unaffected by the earthquake (=southwestern half of Japan) uses 60 Hertz. The capacity of the frequency converter is not enough. The other electric companies that uses 50 Hertz are Tohoku Electric Power whose facilities have been badly damaged, and Hokkaido Electric Power which is too far away.

The Kashiwazaki Nuclear Power Plant [which by the way has the same type of reactors as Fukushima] took 22 months to come back online, and it had a far less severe damage than the Fukushima plants.

Fukushima I and II Nuclear Power Plants generate 9.1 million kilowatt, or over 20% of total electricity generated for TEPCO.

Take a look at this chart that was in the original article. (Y-axis is trillion kilowatt hour.) From the top of the bar chart, the components are: Nuclear, hydro, coal, LNG (liquefied natural gas), alternative energy, and petroleum. Note the high ratio of nuclear power. According to the article, the Japanese power companies were planning to raise the ratio from the current 34% to 70% by the year 2030.

After this quake and the on-going emergency at the Fukushima I, II Nuclear Power Plants, this national plan (both government and industry) of achieving a "low-carbon emission" society through more nuclear power generation may be in serious trouble.

Japan has bought into "global warming" completely, without a shred of doubt as far as I've seen. In its quest for low-carbon, clean and green energy, nuclear power generation has been given an extra help from the government, despite the persistent, strong opposition from the residents who would be affected by the nuclear plants built in their backyards.

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