Japan Utilities Offset Idled Reactor Losses by Lifting Rates

Japanese utilities including Tokyo Electric Power Co. leaned on customer rate increases to boost their financial performances in the first nine months of their fiscal years, as idled nuclear plants kept fuel costs high.

Tokyo Electric and the nation’s five other nuclear utilities that raised electricity rates returned to profit or narrowed losses in the nine months ended Dec. 31. Utilities that didn’t raise rates, including the country’s third-biggest, Chubu Electric Power Co., saw profits drop or remain unchanged.