YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Base officials have asked east-side residents to conserve energy until workers can repair or replace one of three major transformers powering that side of the base.

One of the two transformers still in operation is running near capacity, and “we could risk failure if we go over that,” which would cause the entire east side to lose power, said base spokeswoman Capt. Tania Bryan.

The problem should be resolved by the end of the month, she said.

Residents are asked to use discretion during the conservation period, with emphasis on limiting consumption during the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. It was unclear Tuesday why those hours were targeted, Bryan said.

The transformer went down after flooding on July 5, which also submerged the basements of three apartment buildings. A thousand homes lost power at one point.

Most were back online within a couple days, although it took nearly 10 days to restore one apartment tower with electricity and running water using a generator.

Residents of building 4303 moved back into their homes Friday but continue to have limited air-conditioning until a permanent fix to the building’s electrical system is made.

Nearly 400 residents were evacuated at the height of the outage. The base commander has since said Yokota needs heavy-duty generators to handle similar outages.

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