The government said Friday it won't set numerical power-saving targets this summer even though concerns about shortages linger, especially among suppliers in the west and southwest.

It is the second consecutive year that the government has refrained from imposing numerical targets to stave off the threat of the rolling blackouts that Japan was forced to resort to after the March 2011 core meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant, which hobbled the nation's largest utility and led to a nationwide nuclear freeze.

Instead, the government will take softer measures, including asking Kansai Electric Power Co. and Kyushu Electric Power Co. to secure at least 240,000 kilowatts of additional supply capacity by the end of June. Suppliers have various ways to do this, including by increasing the number of contracts requiring reduced electricity usage during peak hours.