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2011 June 22 - 28 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

JCP has been calling for green power buy up policy: Yoshii

Prime Minister Kan Naoto has suddenly shown enthusiasm for the enactment of a bill on procurement of electricity produced by renewable energy. Akahata on June 25 carried an interview with Japanese Communist Party’s nuclear expert Yoshii Hidekatsu on a program to purchase electricity.

Q: What is a program to buy electricity produced from all renewable energy sources?

Yoshii: This program obliges power companies to buy all the electricity generated at home with such renewable energy sources as sunlight and wind at fixed prices. Without doubt, this will contribute to more practical usage of renewable energy sources.

A similar policy has already been implemented in Germany, for example. Two years ago, Japan also introduced a system to buy electricity, but it buys only an excess of solar power generation.

The related bill at that time, in the name of promotion for other energy sources than oil and coal, called for more usage of nuclear power generation. The bill also encouraged raising electricity rates to cover the purchasing cost. Thus, the bill on an electricity-buying program contained a lot of problems.

Therefore, the JCP proposed an amendment to the bill in June 2009.

The JCP version of a bill obliged the purchase of all renewable energy-produced power excluding nuclear energy, and called for utilization of 350 billion yen earmarked for nuclear energy (promotion of power resources development tax) to prevent power companies from shifting the purchasing cost onto the electricity rates.

The JCP bill also proposed that each supply target for each renewable energy source need a Diet approval in order to not leave the country’s basic energy plan to the Ministry of Economic, Trade and Industry.

Unfortunately, not only the then ruling Liberal Democratic and Komei parties but also the Democratic Party of Japan voted against the JCP amendment to the bill because they were all committed to promote nuclear power generation.

Q: The government bill this time seems to be an improvement. It includes the purchase of all the electricity. What do you think of it?

Yoshii: I think that public opinion and the JCP’s call for the introduction of renewable energy have forced the government to come up with the new bill.

The JCP urges the government to stop the use of nuclear energy and to draw up a program to close nuclear power plants in five to ten years, and calls for a shift to non-nuclear energy production through a drastic increase of the use of renewable energy sources. In order to achieve this, the JCP will work hard to establish a program requiring power companies to purchase the total amount of electricity generated by individual households’ power-generating equipment at fixed prices.

At present, costs required to purchase residential photovoltaic-related surplus electricity are included in electricity rates in the form of a “photovoltaic surcharge.”

As we proposed two years ago, the JCP will request the government to utilize the promotion of power resources development tax in order to prevent utilities from shifting electricity purchase costs onto users, and to set a requirement that targets the power supply of each renewable energy source, including sunlight, to be approved by the Diet.

Full introduction of eco-friendly energy will not only give a chance to develop a new market to local business owners and local agriculture, forestry, and fisheries industries but also create job opportunities. It will also revitalize local economies and change Japan’s economy to one led by domestic demand.

The JCP will make efforts to create a system to produce and use electricity based on local conditions.

Q: In order to increase the use of renewable energy, people’s cooperation is necessary, isn’t it?

Yoshii: I myself have made bipartisan efforts. As part of this, I became a promoter of a study group called “Energy Shift” consisting of Dietmembers, experts, and citizens.

Recently, in a citizens’ meeting, Prime Minister Kan said, “If the Diet passes this bill, you would not see my face.”

The general public must pressure the government to abandon nuclear power generation and to dramatically increase the use of environment-friendly energy. Politicians should not harness this issue to their political ends. As a lawmaker, I am determined to work to create a better system through Diet deliberations on the government bill.