Live Updates on Tokyo’s Electricity Usage

With the Tokyo area suffering from a major power shortage, sites like Yahoo.co.jp have started publishing regular updates on the status of electricity usage. In addition, independent programmers have been using TEPCO’s power usage API to create a variety of mobile phone apps and websites.

Below are two of my favorite results of the API sharing.

Evangelion-style TEPCO Live Monitoring Page:

TEPCO – Power Usage Checker – Google Chrome Extension (Firefox users can get this instead)

Although the weather has become warmer over the last couple days, making use of electricity drop and blackouts unnecessary, it is only a temporary reprieve. The hot and humid days of summer will soon be upon Tokyo, and it will make the electricity demands of March look like nothing. This is far from over, so be sure to bookmark or install one of these electricity status pages/apps.

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Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

SBS

The same API is used for an android widget that displays the current usage, the day’s maximum usage, and whether blackouts are currently happening somewhere. Clicking on it brings up an hourly graph showing current supply with the same day’s supply from last year and yesterday’s usage. That and others here
lovely

there has long been talk of moving HQs, embassies and gov`t offices to other places down southand out to the provences. with what is happening it looks like it is the time to do it NOW. tokyo is a power hog and things need to change.
- Anonymous
  
  Why? So somewhere else can become a power hog?
  - lovely
    
    if these things are spread out they could enjoy the rolling blackouts with the rest of us. and no – if spread out there would be less concentration in only one area. duh
    - http://theinconvenienttruthonwhaling.blogspot.com/ kujirakira
      
      Actually they can’t.
      Japan has 2 separate electrical grids. One on 50Hz and one on 60Hz.
      This is why the issue is all on Tokyo. All the power shortage is in 1 half of the country, and they’re just not going to cut power to the disaster zone where it’s needed most. So Japan may have lost 10% of it’s total electrical power, but Kanto and north has lost 20-25% … and Kanto is being asked to burden the majority of that shortage.
      
      Meanwhile all of Western Japan is completely and entirely unaffected by these electrical power issues. They can’t help share the power either.
      They could burn the midnight oil and it won’t have any affect on whether there are blackouts in Tokyo or not.
    - lovely
      
      i mentioned moving some thihgs down south – part of my argument. also, tokyo is not sharing the rolling blackouts with us out in the countryside,
    - jcpb
      
      Why would you cut electricity supplies to the financial and political center of Japan? You cannot simply say “hey, they’re doing rolling blackouts, let’s move the capital and all the company HQs to Osaka tomorrow”.
Vox24

Great. That’s just great.

My boss is a prius driver.

Can’t wait to see what happens to the company when she discovers these.
yankdownunder

Has the government taken any action to save electricity?

They could close all pachinko parlors. and Disneyland(already closed I think).
People will try to save electricity but I don’t think that will be enough.
Rolling blackouts sounds crazy,scary.
- jcpb
  
  Closing pachinko parlors means one less place to go for entertainment and leisure.
Zach

So it’s like what? If it goes to 0% they will shut down the electricity? Or it’s the opposite?
- loopyduck
  
  The dial on the right indicates how much of the current amount of electricity is actually being used. I suspect once it goes north of, say, 95ish%, the rolling blackouts will stop.
yankdownunder

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mains_electricity_by_country

Only Japan and Tahiti have 2 both 50 and 60 frequency.

Maybe this is a good time to choose a national standard pf
60Hz when so much infrastructure in Northeast must be replaced.
- flowby
  
  Yes unbelievably the existing out dated non-stanardized system has remained in place until now.
  
  Of course it wouldn’t have anything to do with monopolizing power (inc non-electrical) and controlling business & commerce while lining the pockets of grinning associates and assorted amakudari-ites. Control the electricity (no competition) and you control society.
  
  All eggs in one basket is very profitable until the basket is dropped.
jcpb

Instead of running the electricity at different frequencies, they can simply run the lines such that they run on the same frequency, but slightly out of phase with each region. Quebec did that with its transmission network and its lights stayed on while most of the Eastern Seaboard went dark some years ago from a crippling electrical fault near Illinois.
berserker01

The dial on the right is mislabeled. It’s actually the power usage, not power supply. If that get to 100% there will be an uncontrolled blackout. It’s better for that number to be low. They want you to conserve as much electricity as possible and try to bring that number down.

Live Updates on Tokyo’s Electricity Usage

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