Japan Utilities Seek to Raise Retail Rates as Fuel Costs Advance

Japanese electric-power companies are seeking approval to raise retail rates as increased use of liquefied natural gas drives up generation costs, a government energy adviser said.

Some of the applications have already been approved by the central government after factoring in the possible lower cost of buying LNG in the future, Hiroshi Hashimoto, a senior gas researcher at the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan, said in the July report.