Japan orders summer energy cutbacks
TOKYO – The Japanese government ordered businesses and residents last week to cut their energy use by as much as 25 percent this summer to avoid power outages after the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, a decision lawmakers acknowledged could have economic ramifications.
Since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that destroyed the Daiichi facility, large swaths of Japan’s main island, including Tokyo, have endured rolling blackouts as the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco) rations electricity. Government leaders say they would like to end the blackouts but remain concerned about overtaxing the electrical grid during the summer months, when energy consumption spikes because of air-conditioning usage.
Under the government’s plan, large businesses would be required to reduce consumption by 25 percent or face financial penalties, said Renho, a member of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) who goes by one name. Lawmakers will ask smaller businesses to cut back voluntarily by 20 percent and residential households by 15 percent, she added.
“Cutting the normal energy capacity by 25 percent will make a difference in the way factories are run, and the productivity might decrease and lead to a lessening in terms of international competition for Japan,” Renho, who heads an energy task force, said in an interview Thursday at her office, where the lights were turned off in the hallways.
The announcement has set off a scramble in the industrial sector to figure out how businesses can comply. Japan’s powerful business lobby, the Keidanren, said it will consider measures such as flexible schedules, extended holidays and four-day workweeks, along with the installation of in-house power generators.
Hidetoshi Nakagami, chairman of a government energy advisory committee, suggested that department stores remain closed one day a week and that companies housed in the same skyscrapers coordinate their vacations so entire buildings can go dark. The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association is exploring a rotating schedule in which companies in various sectors — such as automobiles, electrical appliances and steel — would take turns operating their factories.
And for the first time in more than 60 years, Japan is considering implementing daylight saving time, according to Banri Kaieda, head of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Although Renho said the measure is unlikely to be adopted this year, the fact that Kaieda raised the idea illustrates the scope of the power emergency.
Rebecca Green, an American environmental consultant working in Tokyo, said her clients, who include large Japanese and multinational manufacturers, are exploring the feasibility of shifting production schedules. Japan already had strict manufacturing efficiency standards, she added, so finding ways to cut back even further will be challenging.
“The biggest question is how to shift production in a way that you can meet the business demand and also keep workers happy,” Green said.
According to the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry, Tepco’s nuclear plants have been producing 31 million kilowatts of power since the earthquake, down 40 percent from the 52 million kilowatts available before the disasters. Officials think they can boost output to 45 million kilowatts through the use of thermal power generation, but that would still be well below the 60 million kilowatts customers used this past summer, when temperatures were unusually high.
Most Japanese companies and residents have already begun conserving energy in modest ways, such as turning off lights more frequently. In Tokyo’s Shibuya shopping district, the huge Times Square-style neon billboards have gone dark.
Maruhan, owner of a chain of 269 pachinko gambling parlors, has cut its energy consumption by 38 percent by setting the air conditioning to a higher temperature, turning off some of the electronic signs and shortening operating hours, a spokeswoman said. Bic Camera, a large electronics retailer, has turned off 70 to 80 percent of its television displays and half the lights in the lamp section, a company official said.
The challenge has been more difficult for other corporations such as Oriental Land, operator of Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea, which use 570,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity a day. Both amusement parks have been closed since the earthquake because of the rolling blackouts. Oriental Land officials said they are considering using power generators or reopening with shorter operating hours.
The emergency has even called into question Japan’s ability to achieve its international pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said.
Renho, the DPJ lawmaker, argued that Japan’s industrial sector could use this situation to take the lead in producing revolutionary green-energy technology. She pulled out a brochure from a company that produces a special white exterior paint that uses sunlight to help make buildings more energy-efficient.
“Companies must change the way they work, using less energy while creating something of equal quality,” she said. “Our government stance is to support that, and it’s a challenge worth taking on.”
nakamurad@washpost.com
Tanaka is a special correspondent.
