Hokkaido Electric Power Co. said that Executive Vice President Yutaka Fujii will be promoted to president of the regional power supplier on June 26. The current president, Akihiko Mayumi, will step aside to the post of chairman while retaining his right to represent the firm. The top management reshuffle comes at a time when the company is coming close to fully putting measures to prevent a repetition of massive power outages into place after blackouts occurred in most parts of Hokkaido, its service area, soon after a powerful earthquake hit the northernmost Japan prefecture last September. The new management team led by Fujii, 63, is poised to redouble efforts to reactivate the company's Tomari nuclear power station and weather the fierce competition brought on by the full liberalization of electricity retail business in the country in April 2016. Fujii now concurrently serves as president of Hokkaido Electric's in-house Power Network Company, which is in charge of power grid business. After taking the helm of Hokkaido Electric, Fujii is bound to face challenges such as ensuring stable power supply while it remains to be seen when the Tomari nuclear plant will be brought back online and winning back customers from low-cost new electricity market entrants.