This is because earthquakes do not just shut production down for a while.
A strike at Delphi could shut production at General Motors because it depends on the company's parts.
Mr. Niimi, the executive vice president for production, said that Toyota was discussing energy-saving measures with other automakers, like shutting production lines during the week and running them on weekends, when more electricity is available.
A freeze in the system "is a nightmare, a worst-case scenario" that could shut production for several weeks, said one Alaska oil executive, who asked for anonymity because he was not authorized by his company to discuss the situation.
Some, according to the local media, sold them corruptly, so were unable to switch fuels when gas supplies were cut.Some private businesses have laid off workers and shut production.
The late-night talk shows, including "The Late Show With David Letterman" and "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart," immediately went dark, and shows like "Two and a Half Men" and "The Office" shut production.
Then a string of hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico in late September and early October shut production at oil wells there, taking 630,000 barrels a day out of the market for about a month.
The accounting office's study comes a week after three former employees of Duke Energy, a leading generator in California, told the State Legislature that the company shut production units to drive up prices.
But some series have already shut production, including NBC Universal's "The Office," and four comedies that are on CBS on Monday nights: "How I Met Your Mother," "The Big Bang Theory," "Two and a Half Men" and "Rules of Engagement".
Three former workers at a plant operated by one of the biggest power producers in California testified today that the company shut production units in what they said was an apparent effort to drive up electricity prices.
Elsewhere it shut production on a platform to repair water pumps and shut another field to work on a pipeline.
