Japan government seeks remote power over consumer power

According to a report, the government of Japan seeks to have remote power over consumers’ energy.

As reported by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun , the Energy Conservation Subcommittee of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has resolved to start working group discussions with the aim of obtaining the ability to remotely shut down the air conditioning/heating units of private property.

All of this would be to decrease energy use which the committee sees as a growing concern as Japan tries to shift towards renewable energy sources such as solar power, where the amount generated can be affected by day-to-day weather what this makes it difficult to stabilize the total amount of energy available.

The ministry estimates that the use of air conditioning units accounts for about 30 percent of household electricity consumption in Japan.

From a technical point of view, the plan would not be that difficult to implement as Japan’s air conditioning units have long had remote controls, so external inputs are not a problem and many models now allow the owner turn the system on and off or adjust the temperature via the Internet.

By asking manufacturers to extend such access to government regulatory organizations and giving those organizations override functions over other inputs, the plan could easily be put into practice for internet-connected air conditioning units. Water heaters are another appliance the committee is looking to gain controllability.

But, gaining public opinion is probably not that easy, as the reactions on social networks in reference to the news attest.

One of the comments read “So they’ll stop doing this when people start dying, right?” And it might sound like an exaggeration, but deaths from heat stroke are common in Japan, where a heat wave a few years ago killed 79 people in Tokyo alone.

According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper , the committee is currently working under the concept that the government could only refuse air-conditioning units if their individual owners have agreed , in advance, to grant that authority.