TOKYO : All of Japan's 10 regional utilities have slashed their earnings estimates for this business year on soaring fossil fuel prices, but Kyushu Electric and Kansai Electric are weathering the pain better, having managed to restart nuclear plants.
"Elevated prices of fuels such as LNG eroded our profits," Masakazu Tsubouchi, an accounting group manager at Chubu, told a briefing, adding that higher wholesale electricity prices also hurt its retail unit. Only three of the nine utilities with nuclear power stations have managed to restart plants, as many reactors are still undergoing a re-licensing process due to stricter safety standards imposed after 2011. Kyushu and Kansai have also restarted additional reactors this business year.