Calculations have been made of the effects of intense poleward-directed electric fields upon the nighttime ionospheric E-region. The results hsow the Pedersen and Hall conductivities are substantially changed, thereby decreasing the ionospheric electrical load seen by magnetospheric sources. It appears that relatively large electric fields can exist in the absence of accompanying large field-aligned currents, as long as the underlying ionosphere remains in darkness and/or energetic particle precipitation is absent.