- Title: Tepco customers lead defections as Japan electricity reform kicks off
- Date: 12th May 2016
- Summary: TOKIGAWA, SAITAMA PREFECTURE, JAPAN (RECENT - MAY, 2016) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) HOUSEWIFE AND TEPCO CONSUMER DEFECTOR, YUMIKO KOYAMA, SAYING: "I think there are many people in Fukushima who try not to think about the stress of living in a contaminated area, and raising their kids there. As people living in the Kanto region, we are close enough (to Fukushima) to be conscious of energy, and to also share information. I want to continue being positive and active in promoting energy that is not nuclear-powered." TOKYO, JAPAN (RECENT) (REUTERS) COMPANY BOOTHS SET UP AT AN ENERGY PROMOTION EVENT, PEOPLE WALKING BY SIGN AT BOOTH READING (Japanese): "SAVING ON FAMILY BUDGET / CONSULTATION / HOW MUCH CHEAPER WILL IT GET?" PROMOTERS HANDING OUT FLYERS AT EVENT (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) A COMPANY WORKER AT EVENT, HIROYUKI YOSHII, SAYING: "''Proper' energy, or more like energy that isn't nuclear powered, seems more attractive to me." (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) RETIREE AT EVENT, HIKARU TERAKAWA, SAYING: "I wanted to ask questions because I don't understand anything (about the deregulation). I wanted to ask whether or not it was okay to stick with Tepco." PROMOTERS HANDING OUT FLYERS AT EVENT
- Embargoed: 27th May 2016 03:17
- Keywords: Japan Tepco electricity reform power trading defections
- Location: TOKYO, TOKIGAWA, NAKAI, KORIYAMA AND FUKUSHIMA DAICHI, JAPAN
- City: TOKYO, TOKIGAWA, NAKAI, KORIYAMA AND FUKUSHIMA DAICHI, JAPAN
- Country: Japan
- Topics: Economic Events
- Reuters ID: LVA0044HI2AMD
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The Koyama family, living on the outskirts of Tokyo, are one of the many Japanese households who have used Japan's recent power market shakeup to show their anger at Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), the utility at the centre of the 2011 nuclear crisis.
They are one of 470,000 homes using the industry deregulation aimed at boosting choice and energy security to defect away from Tepco.
Yumiko Koyama, a mother of two, recently switched from Tepco to ENEOS, an oil company and thermal power provider, after becoming wary of the risks of nuclear power in the wake of the disaster at Tepco-operated Fukushima Daiichi power plant. The meltdown, the worst since Chernobyl 25 years earlier, released large amounts of radioactive material and forced 160,000 from their homes, with many never to return.
"I don't want to buy electricity from a company that is operating a nuclear power plant," Koyama said. "The deregulation of the energy market is an opportunity to purchase electricity from elsewhere, and I feel this is the same as putting in your vote for anti-nuclear energy."
Koyama lives in a small, one bedroom home without air conditioning -- an effort to conserve energy -- with her husband and two children. She heats up her food with a steam cooker instead of using a microwave, a small but effective way to reduce daily ampere usage.
She says that the stress of living near Fukushima and contaminated areas has made people conscious of energy usage and the need to share information.
Koyama started a project "Chobitto Energy," which means "a little bit of energy," a few years ago, an initiative to promote renewable energy and energy conservation through seminars and Facebook. "I want to continue being positive and active in promoting energy that is not nuclear-powered," she said, added that she hopes to reach many who are unclear about what the deregulation entails.
From April 1, the government ended regional monopolies that were formed after World War Two, opening up retail gas and electricity markets to competition. It hopes the changes will help create a thriving wholesale market, driving down prices for industrial and retail customers alike.
Sparked by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami which highlighted problems in transferring electricity across regions and led to the sudden shutdown of nuclear reactors, the reforms are part of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's plans to boost an economy in the doldrums.
But many consumers say they know very little about the changes to the market and what it means for them, though the 2011 disaster has made them doubt nuclear is the way to go.
"Energy that isn't nuclear powered seems more attractive to me," said one customer, Hiroyuki Yoshii, at a recent energy deregulation promotion event in a suburban district of Tokyo. Another, Hikaru Terawaka, said he was confused about the different options. "I wanted to ask whether or not it was okay to stick with Tepco."
In the first month of the new marketplace, more than 740,000 Japanese retail electricity users switched to new suppliers, according to the national grid monitor OCCTO, and wholesale trading volumes on the Japan Electric Power Exchange (JEPX) surged, albeit from a tiny base.
Japan has also posted explosive growth in subsidized renewable energy, particularly solar, since preferential rates were introduced in 2012. Solar now meets as much as 10 percent of the power demand.
But this has meant Tepco has so far lost about 2 percent of its customers, a figure that could grow larger as customers work out what options they have. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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