Key Point of President's Regular Press Conference

September 2026 Regular Press Conference : President Hayashi's Message

September 30, 2026
Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc.

As I am stepping down as President effective today, I would like to offer a few words.

First and foremost, I would like to once again offer my deepest apologies for the repeated instances of misconduct—including the inappropriate handling of the establishment of design basis seismic motion for the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant—which have resulted in a serious breach of trust with the local community, relevant local governments, our customers, shareholders and investors, and society at large.

At a press conference held on September 14, I conveyed the company's position regarding the Investigation Committee's report.
The report identified "the existence of a proprietary justification theory" and "the spread of unique ways of thinking" as underlying causes. It also made extremely severe criticisms regarding the very essence of our company, including failures in control functions stemming from a high level of technical specialization, a lack of understanding among management regarding the actual state of compliance reviews for the new regulatory standards, and the fragility of checks and balances.
As I read through the report, I was once again keenly aware that there are extremely serious problems concerning our organization itself.

The following day, on the 15th, I visited four local cities, including Shizuoka Prefecture and Omaezaki City, to offer my apologies in person.
I received stern comments from the Governor of Shizuoka Prefecture, the Mayor of Omaezaki, and the mayors of the other cities, including remarks such as, "It is deeply regrettable that serious doubts have arisen regarding the company's reliability as an operator," and "We urge you to thoroughly establish an organizational culture that fosters open and free-flowing discussion, as well as business operations characterized by a high degree of transparency."
I believe these were natural and appropriate remarks that voiced the disappointment and anger of the local community.
For many years, we have operated our electric power and nuclear power businesses thanks to the understanding and support of so many people.
The responsibility for having lost that trust is extremely heavy, and as the top executive, I feel profound remorse.

Furthermore, based on the findings of the investigation report, we decided to withdraw our applications for permits to modify the design of Units 3 and 4 at the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant, and submitted this withdrawal to the Nuclear Regulation Authority on the 25th.
Although it was a painful decision to voluntarily withdraw the applications we had been working on for many years, we determined that it would be inappropriate to maintain the previous applications given the serious doubts that have arisen regarding the reliability of the application documents and our subsequent responses to the review process.
We would like to apologize to the Nuclear Regulation Authority and the Nuclear Regulation Commission for rendering their efforts to date futile due to this matter and for causing them significant inconvenience.
Nuclear power is a highly effective means of addressing challenges such as rising electricity demand, decarbonization, and energy security, and the importance and necessity of the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant remain unchanged.
It takes only a moment to lose trust, but it takes a very long time to rebuild that trust from a point of deficit.
That is precisely why we believe it is essential to first steadily improve our organizational culture and business processes, ensure their effectiveness, and spare no effort to restore trust—as well as to reconnect with the local community and build trust step by step.
It will be a long road, but all of our employees will work together as one to ensure that the local community recognizes us as qualified to resubmit our application.

Recently, we submitted reports in response to requests for information from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry regarding inappropriate practices related to the decommissioning and dismantling of Units 1 and 2 at the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant, as well as inappropriate practices concerning errors in the calculation of electricity cost bases.
Personally, I believe there was an underlying cause common to not only the standard seismic motion issue but also these other instances of impropriety.
In particular, regarding the "proprietary justification theory" pointed out in the report, I believe that the entire company—starting with senior management—must seriously ask ourselves: Did we harbor the assumption that "we are doing the right thing"? Did we prioritize internal logic over common sense in society? And why was no one able to stop this flawed way of thinking?

I take responsibility for this series of inappropriate incidents and will resign as President effective today.
I have also received feedback suggesting that efforts to prevent recurrence have only just begun and that I have a responsibility to see them through to the end.
However, I have determined that the first step toward restoring trust is to clarify management responsibility and entrust the company to a new leadership structure.
With a strong resolve to ensure that such incidents never occur again, I sincerely hope that under the new management structure, the company will advance reforms in mindset and behavior, organizational culture, and governance and oversight mechanisms—and that these efforts will bear fruit, allowing Chubu Electric Power to be reborn as a company that once again earns the public's trust.
This ends my presentation.

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