Cut power rates by restarting Kashiwazaki-Kariwa

December 16, 2013

TEPCO to cut power bills, restart nuclear plant

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20131216_40.html

Tokyo Electric Power Company is drawing up a business plan to cut electricity rates by restarting all the reactors at a nuclear power plant in central Japan.

TEPCO raised the rates to cover its losses after the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in 2011. The increases averaged about 8.5 percent for households, and 17 percent for businesses.

But the plan TEPCO is drawing up includes reactivating all seven reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata Prefecture over the next several years. The utility wants to show that it will be able to reduce electricity bills through the full-scale resumption of operations. All nuclear reactors at the plant are now offline.

TEPCO also plans to slash fuel costs by replacing old thermal power plants with more efficient facilities.

Industry sources say the utility could lower electricity rates in stages if it can realize the resumption. They say the rate cuts would total about 10 billion dollars a year in 10 years.

TEPCO plans to finalize the business program by the end of the year.