Japan Utilities Fuel Costs Set to Double Since Fukushima Crisis

Fuel costs at Japan’s nine power utilities may nearly double this fiscal year from two years earlier because most of the country’s nuclear reactors remain shut, a government advisory board estimated.

The nine utilities are expected to pay about 6.8 trillion yen ($85.2 billion) for fossil fuels, including liquefied natural gas and crude oil, to run thermal power plants in the year ending March 2013.