Japan;
¶ The Unit 3 reactor has been restarted at Ohi. Demonstrators at the site are described as raucous. [CNN]
¶ As time passed, and rain fell, hundreds of protesters remained, blocking the road to the Ohi reactors. Residents of Ohi generally were not protesting, as most of the people in the town are employed or otherwise subsidized by the owner of the plant. [The Japan Times]
¶ Demand for electricity for the month of June fell 4.1% from 2011 to 2012. [Reuters Africa]
¶ KEPCO, owner of the Ohi plant, also restarted a mothballed oil powered plant this weekend. [Reuters]
¶ Masayoshi Son, CEO of SoftBank Corp., is keeping a commitment that his company would build at least 10 renewable power facilities with a combined capacity of more than 200 megawatts. He contrasts his company’s actions with those of politicians who fail to keep their commitments. [Wall Street Journal]
US:
¶ There were about three hundred protesters at the VY gate. Forty entered the grounds and were arrested. [Rutland Herald]
¶ Locked out workers at Pilgrim are losing health care benefits. [Boston Herald]
¶ As government incentives disappear, installations of solar power systems decline, but not by much. The lack of incentives has been made up for by a decline in prices. [knoxvillebiz]
¶ Public Service of New Mexico is adding geothermal generating to its power portfolio. [REVE]
geoharvey 