Household electricity bills in Japan set to fall in July due to subsidies
Behind the drop is a resumption of government subsidies to cut electricity costs from July to September, when the use of air conditioners spikes.
Falls in prices of liquefied natural gas will also contribute to the decline in electricity bills.
The subsidies will be ¥2 per kilowatt-hour of electricity consumed in July and September and ¥2.4 per kilowatt-hour in August.
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings and Kansai Electric Power define a standard household as one consuming 260 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month. Given that, the subsidies alone are projected to push down the bills for such households for July by ¥520.
For Tepco, the July bill for a standard household will decrease by ¥616 to ¥8,236, while Kansai Electric expects a drop of ¥520 to ¥7,271.
Subsidies are also set to be reflected in city gas bills, by ¥8 per cubic meter in July and September and ¥10 per cubic meter in August.
The subsidies will push down the gas bills of four major suppliers, including Tokyo Gas, by between ¥241 and ¥318 for July.
Subsidies for electricity and gas bills began in January 2023 as a temporary measure in response to soaring fuel costs following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The program was halted and restarted several times. The last time it was implemented was from January to March this year.
The government plans to spend ¥288.1 billion from its fiscal 2025 budget reserves for the electricity and gas subsidies.
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