Kyodo News: Tokyo Electric to start power outage later than planned Moday morning

 Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Monday it will start an unprecedented rationing of power at 10 a.m. or later rather than 6:20 a.m. as initially planned in the wake of Friday's powerful earthquake that hit Japan and crippled some nuclear power plants.

 The postponement, announced at the last minute, means fewer areas in the Kanto region surrounding Tokyo will be affected by the day's region-specific outages, designed to make up for an expected power shortage, thanks to the prospect of smaller-than-expected demand, the utility said. 

 A suspension of power from 6:20 a.m. to 10 a.m. had been due in one of the five regions into which Tokyo and eight prefectures in the power firm's service area has been divided for the blackout measures.

 The power rationing is expected to last at least until the end of April, affecting most of the 45 million people in the power firm's service area. The central Tokyo area, however, will be excluded for a while as central government offices and company headquarters are located there.

 Among affected railways, East Japan Railway Co. suspended services Monday on most of its lines in the Kanto region, except for the Joetsu and Nagano Shinkansen Lines and the Yamanote Line circling central Tokyo as well as parts of the Keihin Tohoku, Chuo and Joban lines.

 At a predawn press conference, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano again called on the nation to reduce electricity use. He warned that confusion is expected as the step had to be taken at short notice and a very large number of people will be affected.

 "Maximum efforts by the nation are indispensable, such as avoiding going out unless it is necessary or urgent," he said.

©japantimes.co.jp

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