Japan Press Weekly

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2011 March 23 - 29 [GREAT EAST JAPAN DISASTER]

JCP Sasaki urges gov’t to instruct large power users to reduce power usage

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Representatives Sasaki Kensho on March 20 demanded that the government instruct large business establishments which are large-lot electricity consumers to cooperate in the power-saving efforts.

Sasaki proposed this during a working-level session of the joint disaster-response meeting held between the government and each political party.

Due to the decline in electricity production after the major quake, rolling blackouts have been imposed in the Tokyo metropolitan area since March 14.

Article 27 of the Electricity Business Act and its enforcement order give the economic minister a mandate to restrict the use of electricity by major users (above 500kW) for a certain period of time.

Roughly speaking, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) distributes 34% of its electricity for home use and the rest for business and industrial uses, and specified-scale users (above 2000kW) account for 62%.

In regard to the rolling blackouts, it has been difficult for general consumers to know at what time and in which area electricity is to be cut. Corporations are also having difficulty in scheduling production activities.

When TEPCO decided on imposing the planned outages, Prime Minister Kan Naoto instantly gave the okay without taking into account the possible adverse impact on people’s lives.