The drive to conserve energy is being targeted toward Tokyo residents – specifically their living rooms, bathrooms and kitchens.

With governments globally struggling with surging electricity prices as the war in Ukraine has created uncertainty and cost increases in energy supply chains, Japanese authorities are examining almost every possibility to reduce power demand.

In Tokyo, officials are urging residents to watch an hour less TV a day, switch off the warming mode on rice cookers, and to turn off the heater functions on toilet seats until winter. The suggested measures also ask households to keep their air-conditioning temperature setting at around 28 degrees Celsius.

Tokyo’s appeal comes after a power crunch in March that nearly brought blackouts to Japan’s capital, and with tight electricity supplies expected through the summer and next winter. The conservation effort highlights a new urgency from governments as they target phantom power luxuries inside peoples’ homes as extreme weather from Texas to central India strains power grids. “We need to share this sense of crisis,” Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said during a May 6 press conference. “We need the support of Tokyo residents and business owners.”

Japan’s efforts to ensure electricity supply also consider more conventional methods. Residents and businesses are being encouraged to install more rooftop solar, while the Tokyo government is pressing the city’s main electricity provider for the restart of retired and idled power plants .

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has also suggested reactivating shuddered nuclear power plants to help limit the nation’s reliance on fuel imports. 

Following the March 2011 nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima, Japan, only 9 of Japan’s 54 nuclear power plants are operational. There has been strong public opposition against reactivating nuclear plants following the Fukushima nuclear incident.  

Source : Bloomberg