Japan govt seeks reduced power use to avoid blackouts

TOKYO, April 8 (Reuters) - Japan's government is seeking reduced power consumption by both companies and households to avoid blackouts after power plants were knocked out by last month's earthquake and tsunami, Trade Minister Banri Kaieda said on Friday.

In principle, the two utilities most affected, Tokyo Electric Power Co and Tohoku Electric Power Co , will not conduct rolling blackouts, he said.

The government wants major users reliant on the two utilities to cut power consumption by 25 percent in the peak summer demand season, the ministry said.

Small industrial users are being asked to use 20 percent less power and households 15-20 percent less. (Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Edmund Klamann)