Tepco to cut household electricity bills in July
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings is expected to lower its electricity rate for a standard household by ¥616 from the previous month to ¥8,236 in July, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday.
The reduction is largely as a result of subsidies that the Japanese government plans to provide for three months starting next month to lower electricity and city gas bills in an effort to mitigate the impact of higher prices on households.
Nine other major power suppliers and four major city gas providers in Japan are also likely to considerably reduce their rates.
The government will pay subsidies of ¥2 per kilowatt-hour of electricity in July and September, and ¥2.4 in August, when power consumption usually grows because of more people using air conditioners.
For city gas, the government will spend ¥8 per cubic meter in July and September and ¥10 in August.
Tepco assumes that a standard household consumes 260 kilowatt-hours of electricity a month.
The company expects the subsidies to lower the bill for a standard household by ¥520 in July. Its July rates will also reflect lower costs for coal and liquefied natural gas that are used for power generation.
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