Citizens urged to limit demands on Japan's power grid

Japanese officials are urging the public to limit their electricity consumption in a bid to stave off the need for lengthy rolling blackouts.

Nearly two million Japanese are without power, three days after the devastating earthquake struck off the country's eastern coast.

The quake and its accompanying tsunami wreaked havoc on the country's power grid, downing transmission lines and rendering at least three nuclear reactors inoperable.

On Monday, Prime Minister Naoto Kan urged citizens to limit demands on the power grid, by turning off as many electric appliances as they can in their homes, according to remarks reported by Japan's NHK broadcaster.

The country's Kyodo News Agency reported that blackouts were supposed to begin on Monday morning, but were not immediately put into effect as system demand was not as strong as had been expected. Instead, they were due to be implemented in various parts of Japan in the late afternoon.

Many regional train lines were shut down or working on a limited schedule to limit demands on the power system on Monday.

With files from The Associated Press

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  An aerial view shows a residential area during planned outage in Fuji city, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, Monday, March 14, 2011. The planned blackouts were meant to help make up for a severe shortfall after key nuclear plants were left inoperable due to Friday's earthquake and tsunami. (The Yomiuri Shimbun / Kenichi Unaki)

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  A station staff seals an electric sign after decision of suspension of train services at a line due to planned blackouts, at JR Shinjuku station in Tokyo Monday, March 14, 2011. (Kyodo News)

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  Executive Vice President of Tokyo Electric Power Co., Takashi Fujimoto shows the illustrated diagram of the scheduled blackouts during the press conference Sunday, March 13, 2011 in Tokyo, Japan. The utility company says it will ration electricity with rolling blackouts in parts of Tokyo and other Japanese other cities. They are meant to help make up for a severe shortfall after key nuclear plants were left inoperable due to the earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan. (AP / Eugene Hoshiko)

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  Buses crowd at bus terminal in Musashino, on the outskirts of Tokyo Monday, March 14, 2011. In Tokyo and elsewhere, authorities began rolling blackouts to conserve power as they tried desperately to stabilize the nuclear reactors at risk of meltdown in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami. (Kyodo News)