March 2012 shattered U.S. temperature records. What about the summer?
Electricity market operators worldwide are not generally fond of hot summers, when consumers turn up their air conditioners to stay cool, while straining the network, sometimes to the brink of disaster.
This summer is no exception, especially in a few places where supplies are likely to be tight.
Perhaps the most pressing is the case of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the operator of the stricken Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, which was devastated during March 2011 tsunami.
Of Japan's 54 nuclear reactors, only 1 is currently operating, and the remaining one is scheduled for refueling in May, before Tokyo's famously hot and humid summer.
