Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc said it would receive electricity from other regional utilities to overcome a power crunch that was expected to hit Japan on Tuesday.
Japan's government issued its first ever electricity supply warning on Monday, citing tightness in the grid following the March 16 earthquake and unseasonable cold weather. Tepco will be receiving up to 1.42 million kilowatts of electricity from seven regional utilities. At its peak in February, it supplied over 52 million kilowatts of power to Tokyo and eight surrounding regions.
"The demand for power is unusually high for this time of year, and it will be difficult to meet those demands," industry minister Koichi Hagiuda told a news conference on Tuesday morning, explaining the rationale behind issuing the warning. Officials called on households and companies to conserve energy, adding that there could be blackouts if there was too much strain on the grid.