If TEPCO is broken up, as some are advocating, who will supply power to the eight prefectures it serves, who will employ its thousands of workers and who will pay compensation to victims of the Fukush

I don't know, did it destroy the phone busniess when Ma Bell was broken up in 1982?

Someone will, because someone has to.

At least they probably won't continue to mess things up, or do something stupid every other day.

At least they probably won't continue to mess things up

are you sure?

At least they probably won't continue to mess things up

are you sure?

Well... not as bad as TEPCO.

The same people as now will supply the electric, employ the workers, and welcome new hordes of aging oyaji to the amukudari ranks. The taxpayer will get to pay for the clean-up and compensation. TIJ.

Get rid of the monopoly and allow multiple companies to compete on the whole Japan grid. In addition, get rid of the energy law that forbids foreign investors from owning utilities. Compensation is already paid mainly from the taxpayer, so a breakup of TEPCO probably won't change much.

... what an idiotic question.

TEPCO makes money. TEPCO divided in half will still make money. TEPCO divided into quarters will still make money. TEPCO divided into a hundred parts will still make money.

Breaking up TEPCO does one thing, puts a price on current assets and sells them off to the highest bidder, creating an immediate slush fund from which to pay the money owed to Fukushima refugees, and transferring ownership and profitability to new owners.

The only losers are the stock holders and TEPCO's managers, and since those vampires profited for decades by cutting corners and eventually irradiated a large chunk of Japan ... well, I have no sympathy for them, and losing their stock in TEPCO is the VERY LEAST they should pay.

The same people who are paying for tepco's disasters now, the Japanese taxpayers. Tepco for decades flaunted safety regulations in order to increase profits for themselves. Now they cannot pay for their huge mistakes and are getting bailed out by the government. They no longer deserve to exist. Tepco needs to be killed so that future nuclear disasters do not occur in Japan.

Whoever buys TEPCO's power stations will supply power to TEPCO's customers. If the power stations are sold to different companies there will be a choice of suppliers and pressure to reduce electricity rates.

People working in the power stations will be employed by their new owners. All of the top managers and directors working in Tokyo will be fired as they will become redundant. Or they could be reemployed at Fukushima to help with the clean up.

Compensation can be paid from the proceeds of selling TEPCO's assets.

"who will pay compensation to victims of the Fukushima nuclear crisis"

Um, how abut the owners of Tepco's bonds and stocks?

Yeah, crazy idea, isn't it, having the people who own the company and lend money to it take actual financial responsibility for it. Ah, let's just hand the bill to the taxpayers in Kyushu, Okinawa, etc. instead.

It's not complicated. TEPCO is a huge company. Break it up into ten smaller companies, and those ten smaller companies will collectively service, employ, and provide electricity for the same folks TEPCO did, using the same equipment,e tc.

usually with much, much more efficiency.

Econ 101 kids

"who will supply power to the eight prefectures it serves?"

Serrano Power & Light at your service! All I need is a government loan to get started...

Serrano, do you know what it takes to run a power plant? Well...to be fair, at the rate TEPCO is going, you should do a better job than they are┐('～`;)┌

This is a bit of a non-issue. If TEPCO is broken-up, all the power stations, sub-stations, and transmission lines don't disappear in a puff of smoke. They're still there, just under different management.

It is a non-issue. The Fukushima plant was built to the standards set by the Japanese government, and it was government regulators who were responsible for periodic plant inspections. In the end, it will be the government (taxpayers) who gets stuck paying "compensation". This compensation will most likely not be in cash, but in other forms of aid which will benefit politicians and their cronies more than the victims.

Given the nature of things here, TEPCO would probably just reform itself under a new name and keep on screwing things up. Worked for most other companies that declared bankruptcy or were 'broken up'.