Electricity generation and purchases by Japan's top 10 power utilities in January hit a record high of 92.28 billion kwh as customers ran heaters heavily to stay warm during the unseasonably cold weather in western Japan, an industry body said Monday.
The Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan said in its report that brisk industry demand also drove up data for January sales, which rose 5.8 percent from a year earlier to mark a year-on-year rise for the 14th straight month.
By company, sales at Tokyo Electric Power Co. grew 4.6 percent and sales at Kansai Electric Power Co., based in Osaka, jumped 6.2 percent in the reporting month.