Did you read August 14's Wall Street Journal article on Japan's audiophiles? They're installing their own utility poles to hear more clearly Queen's "I'm in Love with My Car" and other favorite tunes. (Wall Street Journal, Juro Osawa, "A Gift for Music Lovers Who Have It All: A Personal Utility Pole," August 14, 2016.)
"Normal electricity just wouldn't do anymore. To tap into what [Takeo] Morita calls 'pure' power, he paid $10,000 to plant a 40-foot-tall concrete pole in his front yard. On it perches his own personal transformer ... which feeds power more directly from the grid.
'Electricity is like blood. If it is tainted, the whole body will get sick,' says Mr. Morita. 'No matter how expensive the audio equipment is, it will be no good if the blood is bad.'"
Japan's audiophiles like Mr. Morita are convinced they can hear a significant improvement in sound quality. More direct grid feeds avoid the power demand fluctuations and electromagnetic interferences of neighbors' appliances.
"Getting a private pole took two months of negotiation with the local power company, which initially objected because there was no precedent in the region. [Katsuhiro Hirano] wanted a brown pole to match his house; the utility had only the conventional concrete hue.
A truck brought his pole last summer, and workers spent three days digging a hole in his yard and erecting it. Neighbors pried, already curious about the windowless building he had put up earlier as his audio room."
Has Japan come upon a new revenue stream for the utility of the future? Installing personal poles for those obsessed with power quality? And charging extra for premium colors and custom designs?
"At first, it felt strange to have a concrete pole in my yard," [Mr. Morita] says. "But now it's part of my home and I feel attached to it."
People all around the globe want their electricity and Public Utilities Fortnightly too.
Steve Mitnick, Editor-in-Chief, Public Utilities Fortnightly
E-mail me: mitnick@fortnightly.com
