Masami Yamamoto and Chiaki Toyoda / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers
In anticipation of massive power shortages this summer, the Japan Business Federation said it will prod companies and industry groups to come up with energy-saving plans this month. But it is uncertain how effective such plans will be as the electricity shortfall could be as great as 15 million kilowatts.
The nation's leading business association, known as Nippon Keidanren, is expected to make suggestions such as giving employees a two-week summer break, adopting a four-day work week or coordinating rotating holidays in which different firms in the same industry take separate days off. It will also likely propose setting numerical energy-saving targets.
Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, welcomed Keidanren's Thursday decision, with one official saying the plan was "greatly appreciated."
Keidanren members, however, have expressed frustration with how TEPCO has managed the current rolling power cuts. "We can't operate our production equipment at full capacity because the power's out for three hours a day," an official of a major textile manufacturer said.
Despite frustration from the private sector, the government could be forced to impose mandatory restrictions on electricity use with fines for violators if the power shortage becomes critical.
TEPCO is expected to have a capacity of only 45 million kilowatts this summer because of damage caused by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and ongoing nuclear crisis. If this summer is as hot as last year, power demand could reach 60 million kilowatts, for which the industrial and other business sectors would account for about 60 percent.
Companies would have a difficult time managing their daily operations if they have to deal with rolling power cuts or mandatory power restrictions, which is why Keidanren is pushing for early planning. If companies have solid energy-saving plans in place, the business lobby believes, firms can keep production efficiency as high as possible.
But some experts have questioned how effective such planning will be. "Energy-saving plans could only make up for a few million kilowatts," one specialist said.
Households, which eat up about 20 percent of the electricity supply, cannot cut power usage very much, but people will likely be urged to conserve as much as possible.
"We'd like the government to introduce a point system to encourage households to cut power, daylight saving time and other steps to get the nation as a whole to save energy," a Keidanren official said.
Meanwhile, Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Tadashi Okamura announced at a press conference Thursday that the group will create guidelines asking small and midsize firms in the Tokyo metropolitan area to cut energy use by 25 percent.
As summer approaches, companies are likely to continue trying to save electricity at their own initiative.
(Apr. 2, 2011)
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