Ministry to Request Power Saving in Hokkaido during Winter

November 7, 2018

Tokyo, Nov. 7 (Jiji Press)--The industry ministry plans to issue a request to consumers to save electricity in Hokkaido, northern Japan, this winter, according to informed sources.

The move comes after a powerful earthquake in the prefecture in September crippled its main thermal plant and triggered a prefecturewide blackout.

The ministry is due to decide to make the power-saving request with no numerical goal, at a related committee meeting on Thursday, the sources said.

The government will issue such a request for the first time in three years, while Hokkaido Electric Power Co. <9509> usually calls for conserving electricity in winter.

Following the September earthquake, the ministry and the regional utility made a temporary request to cut power consumption by 20 pct in Hokkaido.

According to the ministry and other sources, the potential electricity supply in Hokkaido is projected to outpace consumption by a margin of 16.4 pct during the peak demand period in February, well above the minimum-needed 3 pct. Jiji Press