Key Point of President's Regular Press Conference
September 2018 Regular Press Conference : President Katsuno's Message
September 25, 2018
Chubu Electric Power Co.,Inc.
First, I would like to offer my heartfelt condolences to those who were affected by Typhoon Jebi, the 21st typhoon this year, that passed over the Japan earlier this month.
Typhoon Jebi caused severe damage in the general Chubu area. Approximately 850,000 buildings suffered power outages, the third largest outage event in the Heisei period which started in 1989.
o The mountainous areas in Gifu Prefecture were the hardest hit with fallen trees cutting off roads and many electrical facilities receiving damage. Despite our best efforts, it took a week for power to be restored to all homes.
I deeply apologize for all the immense trouble and inconvenience that we have caused.
We will be establishing a committee to discuss the challenges identified in this event in terms of recovery methods, disseminating information about power outages, and cooperating with municipalities. We will utilize the lessons learned in responding to future disasters.
I will be discussing the following matters today:
- Power Demand for This Summer in the Chubu Area
- Workstyle Reform Initiatives
- Technofair 2018
Power Demand for This Summer in the Chubu Area
- Now, I would like to talk about the power demand for the summer of 2018.
- Japan as a nation experienced record-breaking heatwaves starting in mid-July, and on July 18, the power demand reached 25.97 million kW, the highest since the Tohoku Earthquake.
- On August 3, the temperature in Nagoya exceeded 40 degrees Celsius, the first time in recorded history. The intense heat continued, and the record for maximum power demand was broken again with 26.22 million kW on the 6th.
- Chubu Electric Power had estimated this summer’s demand peak value at 26.27 million kW and had secured a supply capacity of around 28.5 million kW. We are happy to say we were able to provide for all of our customers.
- We will continue to ensure that the operation and maintenance of thermal and hydropower stations and transmission-transformation facilities are carried out and to prepare for any natural disasters in order to “achieve our never changing mission” of stable supply of electricity.
Workstyle Reform Initiatives
- Next, I am going to talk about work style reform.
- For a company to keep growing sustainably, it not only needs to provide services that satisfy the customer, but also promote workstyle reform to improve work productivity and to help employees achieve work-life balance .
- Chubu Electric Power has been developing an environment for employees to work more flexibly and efficiently while maintaining a healthy and stable personal life.
- One work reform initiative is the “flextime” system. We have gradually expanded this “flextime” system, first introduced in the Technological Development Division in 1990, to the entire company excluding certain positions such as shift work for power stations.
- We are also pushing forward the “telework” initiative that allows employees to work flexibly, unbound by place or time using ICT.
- We also introduced the “satellite office” system in April of this year. Employees can work at offices near the site of their business trip or at home, outside of their own department’s physical office.
- Additionally, on the first of next month, we will be introducing “mobile work” and “working from home” initiatives having established an information communication environment that allows the internal information infrastructure to be accessed from outside.
- “Mobile work” allows employees to work more efficiently while on business trips. Having employees effectively utilizing waiting times and traveling times while on business trips improves labor productivity, and helps the company respond in a more timely fashion to requests from customers.
- “Working from home” alleviates the stresses of a commute and increases time that can be used effectively, leading to a better work-life balance for the employee.
- Chubu Electric Power will continue to support the employees’ pursuit of work-life balance in this tough business environment. We will continue to actively promote workstyle reform and manage the employees’ health so that they can concentrate on their work in secure environment, healthy in mind and body.
Technofair 2018
- Finally, I will talk about “Technofair 2018” to be hosted by the Technological Development Division on the 11th and 12th of October.
- Technofair is an event held annually to introduce our technological developments. This event, held for the 26th time this year, draws crowds of approximately 3000 every year.
- The theme for this year’s Technofair is “Energy that Connects Everyone: Taking Challenges a Step Further”. We will be introducing the latest technological advances, emphasizing
- Ways to provide a stable supply of power in the future using new technologies such as IoT and AI
- Creation of new energy services
- Technology to make nuclear power safer
- Researchers will introduce their own research results using panels and models as well as demonstrations.
- This ends my presentation.