東電、節電を緊急要請　１８日夜、福島沖地震・気温低下で

　東京電力ホールディングス（ＨＤ）は１８日夜、東日本の電力需給が厳しいとして、急きょ利用者に節電を要請した。福島県沖を震源とする地震の影響で発電所の運転停止が相次いだ上、気温の低下で暖房など電力需要が増加。停電が広範囲で発生する恐れがあったことから、節電を呼び掛けた。節電要請は昨年１月以来。
　東電ＨＤは、需給の逼迫（ひっぱく）が見込まれた１８日午後９～１０時に節電するよう要請した。午後９時の時点で電力使用率は供給力の９８％に達し、安定供給に最低限必要とされる予備率が３％を下回った。（2022/03/18-22:22）

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. asked users to conserve electricity Friday night due to possible power shortages in eastern Japan.
   Electricity supply has declined as some power plants are halting operations following Wednesday's powerful earthquake off the Tohoku northeastern Japan region, while falling temperatures increased power demand for heating, officials said.
   As of 9 p.m. (noon GMT), demand had reached 98 pct of the supply capacity although the margin needs to be kept at or above 3 pct in order to ensure stable power supply.
   As power shortages may trigger large-scale outages, TEPCO requested users to reduce their electricity consumption between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m.
   The company asked for user cooperation to save power for the first time since Jan. 10 last year.