What crisis?
Why the capital should turn off its toilets
IF ANYTHING could make Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), the disaster-stricken utility, more unpopular, it is the prospect of a sweltering summer without enough electricity to keep the air-conditioners running. Yet TEPCO may have pulled off a rare public-relations coup. Having convinced its customers that a massive energy-saving sacrifice was necessary, it has now found that it has more back-up than it thought.
On April 15th it lowered its estimate of the power shortfall during peak summer months to 3-4.3 gigawatts, from 8.5GW announced three weeks earlier. The extra capacity comes from an additional 100 or so small natural-gas turbines; firms generating their own power; and more hydroelectricity.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline "What crisis?"
From the April 23rd 2011 edition
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