Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. (TEPCO) on Wednesday again urged people in the capital and eight other prefectures to conserve their electricity use when facing a continuing power supply crunch.
Some of TEPCO's thermal power plants were knocked out following a powerful earthquake that hit the Tohoku region of northeastern Japan last week. So far, the utility has failed to bring the plants back online.
The cold weather is compounding the energy crunch as usage remains high in the utility's service areas.
The utility said solar power-generated energy may help improve supply in the very short-term but homes and business usage were relatively high due to unseasonably cold weather and the need for heaters.
TEPCO, owner and operator of the crisis-hit nuclear plant in Japan's northeast prefecture of Fukushima, said it managed to stave off on large-scale blackouts on Tuesday evening as had previously been warned.
The company said electricity generated from hydroelectric power to boost supply was likely to be smaller on Wednesday than a day earlier due to a lower amount of water available.
TEPCO again urged businesses and households in the area it serves to conserve power by keeping heating on premises to 20 degrees Celsius and switching off lights when not in use.
A wide-scale blackout was averted owing to power-saving efforts and additional supplies offered by other regional utilities, officials said.
Japan's Industry Minister Koichi Hagiuda told a press briefing the previous day that, "The government may ask for greater cooperation in the future to reduce consumption, depending on how the situation evolves."
The industry ministry said the nation has not faced such a severe power supply crunch in the wake of the 2011 earthquake which triggered a nuclear disaster at the plant in Fukushima.
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