Consumers’ Electric Cooperatives in Postwar Japan

Abstract

Even after the World War II, the electric power company did not take electricity supply in so- called remote areas, and the electric power business was widely done by agricultural cooperatives etc. in remote islands and mountainous areas of Japan. This study reveals, however, the electric power projects were also done by consumers’ co-ops in various places. In postwar Japan, there were at least more than 10 consumers’ electric co-ops and actually supplied electricity to local members. In this paper, we examine several cases closely, and clarify the significance of consumers’ electric co-ops in the Japanese cooperative history.