Tag - utilities

 
 

UTILITIES

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 7, 2019
News outlets take time to connect the dots in Kepco gift scandal
In September, media reported that 20 executives of Kansai Electric Power Co. (Kepco) had, for a decade or so, received almost ¥320 million worth of cash and gifts from Eiji Moriyama, the former deputy mayor of Takahama, Fukui Prefecture, who died in March at the age of 90. The compensation was presumably...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 29, 2019
India pollution regulator threatens to shut coal-fired utilities around New Delhi
India’s federal pollution regulator has warned coal-fired power plants around New Delhi that they could be shut down for failing to comply with deadlines to meet emissions standards, according to sources and a letter reviewed by Reuters.
BUSINESS
Nov 23, 2019
Japan to assist creation of local power providers that function even during blackouts
The Environment Ministry plans to create a financial aid program to encourage the establishment of community-based power providers that could supply energy locally if disasters bring large-scale outages.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 19, 2019
As extreme storms wreck power grids, Japan turns to home battery networks
After recent typhoons ravaged the nation’s power grid and disrupted services to almost 1.4 million customers, the government is encouraging homeowners to invest in storage systems, seeking to marry batteries with existing rooftop solar capacity to create backup electricity networks.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 30, 2019
Tepco may become first Japanese utility to issue green bonds
Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings Inc. could become the first Japanese utility to issue green bonds.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 22, 2019
California utility considers more blackouts to avoid igniting wildfires
With windy, dry weather in the forecast again, California’s largest utility said Monday it’s considering shutting off power this week to about a half million people to try and prevent wildfires ignited by electrical equipment.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Oct 12, 2018
As groundwater levels plunge, Lahore begins turning off the taps
Five mornings a week, Saima Azeem helps her children wash and prepare for school. But this week has been different: She has had to use her few bottles of drinking water to get them ready.
BUSINESS
Jul 30, 2018
Japan’s utilities crank up oil-fired power in face of heat wave
To cool down, electricity suppliers are firing up fossil fuels.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 5, 2018
Silicon Valley may be powered using giant lithium-ion batteries under new projects to switch away from fossil fuels
California utility PG&E Corp. has proposed using giant lithium-ion batteries, including packs supplied by Tesla Inc., to supply power to Silicon Valley instead of burning natural gas.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health / FOCUS
Jun 24, 2018
India speeds up environmental approval process for major industrial projects
India is fast-tracking environmental clearances for projects like power plants and coal mines in a bid to boost growth, setting off alarm bells among environmentalists and affected residents who say the decisions are being made too quickly.
EDITORIALS
May 27, 2018
Clear message needed to boost renewable energy
The government’s Basic Energy Plan falls far short in getting the nation to rely more on renewable sources.
EDITORIALS
May 17, 2018
End big power firms’ stranglehold on electrical grid
The big power companies’ stranglehold on the transmission network is suppressing the development of renewable energy.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 12, 2018
Utilities can help save Japan’s elderly
By monitoring utility use, companies can play a role in reversing the tragic trend of ‘lonely deaths.’
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Mar 5, 2018
Chubu Electric tests mobile payment app as prelude to blockchain-based energy marketplace
Chubu Electric Power Co. has developed a mobile payment app for virtual currencies, and has started testing it in-house with employees using it to purchase coffee.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 16, 2018
The push for solar power lights up options for India’s rural women
In her village of Komalia, the fog swirls so thick at 7 a.m. that Akansha Singh can see no more than 15 meters ahead. But the 20-year-old is already cycling to her workplace, 9 kilometers away.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 16, 2018
Tea, haircuts and fish bones: Letting the light into Pakistan
Reclining comfortably on a bed outside his mud home, 75-year-old farmer Mohammad Khoso watches life go by. His family is now the center of everyone’s envy in the southern Pakistani village of Murid Khoso — they have electricity.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 17, 2018
Blockchain and drones could play a role in Tepco’s fight for survival
Shattered by the enormity of the Fukushima nuclear disaster and bleeding customers to nimbler rivals, Tokyo’s lumbering, 66-year-old electric-power behemoth has a new strategy for long-term survival: reinventing itself as a cutting-edge innovator.
WORLD
Oct 22, 2017
U.S. says cyberattacks have targeted nuclear, energy, aviation, water and critical manufacturing industries
The U.S. government issued a rare public warning that sophisticated hackers are targeting energy and industrial firms, the latest sign that cyberattacks present an increasing threat to the power industry and other public infrastructure.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 12, 2017
From thin air to stone: Greenhouse gas test starts in Iceland
A Swiss company will start to extract carbon dioxide from thin air in Iceland on Thursday, seeking to transform the gas into rock far below ground in a first test of a costly technology meant to slow climate change.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 22, 2017
Nuclear experts head to China to test experimental reactors
With scientists from Western nations finding it difficult to raise enough money to build experimental plants at home, China is becoming the testing ground for a new breed of nuclear power stations designed to be safer and cheaper.

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
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