The massive blackout that struck New York and Canada in the summer of 2003 exposed the fatal risks of power market liberalization. Driven by profit-first management and neglected maintenance, the outage demonstrated how deregulation can endanger human life and raise serious questions about responsibility for electricity supply.

2016-03-16

In this chapter as well, what I have repeatedly pointed out is proven to be one hundred percent correct.

The following continues from the previous section.

Regarding the liberalization of electricity as well, Mr. Koizumi may have held a vague image that “introducing competition will lower electricity prices and help consumers.”
However, based on the examples of the United Kingdom, which led the way in liberalization, and Germany, it is expected with certainty that electricity prices will rise.

The costs of power generation facilities, transmission networks, and maintenance are all ultimately passed on to consumers in the form of electricity charges.

The idea that introducing competition will automatically make everything work smoothly is a serious mistake.

In the summer of 2003, a massive blackout lasting more than one day spread from New York to Canada.

The cause was electricity liberalization.

Because profit was prioritized, maintenance of the transmission line management system was neglected, making it impossible to cope with increased electricity demand, which triggered a chain reaction of power outages.

Emergency diesel generators in hospitals can operate for only a few hours, but if a blackout lasts more than a day, medical equipment will cease to function, posing a direct threat to human life.

Under Japan’s current system, electric power companies with supply responsibility are desperately maintaining electricity supply.
But once liberalization is introduced, who will bear responsibility for human lives?

This is a matter of grave concern.

To be continued.