To help Japan meet its climate change counter-measure plan and Paris Agreement commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 26 percent by fiscal year 2030 (compared to fiscal year 2013 levels), Oracle Utilities Opower Energy Efficiency Cloud Service will be utilized to provide personalized energy efficiency guidance to 300,000 households across five utility territories throughout Japan.
With nearly 70 percent of the average Japanese household's carbon footprint stemming from energy use, Japan's Ministry of Environment (MOE) commissioned a nationwide study to measure the potential of residential behavioral energy efficiency programs as a means of reaching Japan's fiscal year 2030 CO2 emissions' reduction goals—of which a 40% reduction is required in residential-sector emissions alone. As part of this effort, Oracle Utilities will work with five major Japanese utilities, including Hokkaido Gas, Ltd., Tohoku Electric Power Co., Inc., Hokuriku Electric Power Co., Inc., Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc., and Okinawa Electric Power, Co., Inc., to deliver Home Energy Reports (personalized energy consumption communications) to residents across each utility territory using the Opower Energy Efficiency Cloud Service platform.
"It is very rewarding to be able to contribute to energy efficiency around the globe. Japan is another example of the current energy efficiency programs we are running with 87 utilities around the world in order to create a more sustainable planet. The goal of Oracle Utilities is to provide superior technology – both cloud and on-premises – to support our utility customers in meeting objectives such as energy efficiency, improving customer experience, modernizing network management and better managing their assets as the industry continues to innovate," said Rodger Smith, senior vice president and general manager of Oracle Utilities.
Leveraging Oracle Utilities' Opower Energy Efficiency Cloud Service, each of the five utilities will deliver Home Energy Reports to 60,000 of their residents for a total of 300,000 homes across Japan. Each resident will receive reports with personalized insights that are designed to raise energy efficiency awareness by making consumers' energy consumption easy to understand (such as by comparing each household's gas or electricity usage with that of similar homes and providing tips tailored to each household on how they can reduce waste where it makes sense for them to do so). This unique combination of analytics and behavioral design, enabled through a scalable SaaS platform, is proven to drive measureable energy efficiency results around the world.
"Enabling consumers to track their energy usage and contribute to the country's goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions has been a goal for Japan for many years. Taking this next step in our efforts with Oracle Utilities Japan is yet another milestone for us in meeting our objectives," said Hidetoshi Nakagami, Chairman of Jyukankyo Research Institute, President of JAESCO, and member/leader of numerous governmental advisory committees in Japan.
