Hokkaido Electric Power Co. will raise electricity prices for households on Nov. 1, the industry ministry said Friday, as rising fossil fuel costs weigh on the utility's earnings following the loss of nuclear power.
Prices will be 12.43 percent higher during the five months through March and 15.33 percent higher than now starting next April. The lower markup through March is designed to ease the impact during the island prefecture's long, cold winter, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said.
It is the second rate hike for Hokkaido Electric since the Fukushima nuclear crisis in 2011 left the nation's atomic reactors shuttered. The company hiked household rates 7.73 percent last year.
It initially sought a 17.03 percent increase for this round, but METI reduced the margin and called on the utility to redouble its efforts to cut fuel costs for thermal generation.
In response, Hokkaido Electric will cut executive pay and cancel the winter bonus.
The utility owns three reactors at the Tomari nuclear plant, but none has been online since the No. 3 unit was idled for a mandatory regular checkup in May 2012.
For the business year ended last March, the company logged a pretax loss for the third straight year due to the higher cost of generating power from fossil fuels.