梶山経産相「電気効率使用を」　寒さで暖房需要増加

　梶山弘志経済産業相は１２日の閣議後記者会見で、厳しい寒さで暖房機器の使用が増加し電力需給が逼迫（ひっぱく）していることを受け、電気機器の効率的な使用を呼び掛けた。
　梶山氏は、寒波の影響による太陽光発電の出力低下や、火力発電所の燃料である液化天然ガス（ＬＮＧ）の在庫減少の状況を説明。暖房は利用を継続しつつ、使っていない部屋の電気を消すなど「電気の効率的な使用を続けてもらいたい」と述べた。数値目標などを定めた政府による節電要請は現時点で不要との考えも示した。（2021/01/12-12:28）

Japanese industry minister Hiroshi Kajiyama on Tuesday asked people to use home appliances efficiently amid the tight supply-demand balance for electricity reflecting a surge in demand for heating due to extreme cold weather.
   At a press conference, he cited a decline in solar power generation attributed to bad weather and falling inventories of liquefied natural gas, used as fuel for thermal power generation.
   "We'd like (people) to use electricity efficiently," such as switching the lights off in rooms that are not occupied while continuing to use heating equipment appropriately, Kajiyama said.
   He suggested that the government sees no need at the moment to ask for power-saving by setting numerical targets.
   On Friday, maximum power demand exceeded levels believed to be seen once in about 10 years in seven regions, mainly in western Japan, following the cold snap. Major power suppliers are scrambling to deal with the situation by mutually supplying electricity, procuring electricity from businesses having their own power generation facilities and boosting thermal power generation.