Tsunehisa Katsumata, chairman of Tokyo Electric Power Co., will resign this summer and his successor will be chosen from outside TEPCO, sources said.
Tsunehisa Katsumata, chairman of Tokyo Electric Power Co., will resign this summer and his successor will be chosen from outside TEPCO, sources said.
The step follows a government decision to inject public funds into the operator of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
The government has already started contacting private company executives for Katsumata's replacement, the sources said.
However, finding a successor will likely prove difficult, given the likelihood of a sharp increase in electricity rates and criticism over TEPCO's handing of the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
The Nuclear Damage Liability Facilitation Fund, a body set up by the government and electric power companies, plans to provide about 1 trillion yen ($13 billion) to the utility after a TEPCO shareholders meeting scheduled in June.
The liability fund and TEPCO are expected to come up with a comprehensive business plan, which will outline TEPCO’s future and specify the amount of capital injection.
The 71-year-old Katsumata is expected to resign to demonstrate management's responsibility for the Fukushima accident. He will likely resign on the day of the company’s general shareholders meeting in June.
Katsumata became TEPCO president in October 2002, and has served as chairman since June 2008.
Katsumata accepted management responsibility for the Fukushima plant accident in a news conference last April, adding that he would resign, although he did not specify when.
Government officials were apparently looking at Yoshiyuki Kasai, chairman of the Central Japan Railway Co., to take over from Katsumata.
Kasai, 71, played an influential role in the privatization of Japan National Railways and currently serves on a panel with the liability fund. However, he apparently refused to accept the post, which was made during closed-door negotiations.
TEPCO's president, Toshio Nishizawa, 60, may also have to resign. Nishizawa took up the post in June last year. However, his future will likely very much depend on the new chairman’s intentions.