The percentage of domestic power accounted for by fossil fuels rose from about 62% in FY10 (April 2010 to March 2011), before the giant earthquake of March 11, 2011, to about 88% in FY13, higher than the 76% level registered during the first \u201coil crisis\u201d of 1973.<\/p>\n
The increase in fuel costs for thermal-power generation, needed to compensate for the losses stemming from the NPP shutdowns, came to JPY2.3 trillion (USD19.2 billion at USD1=JPY120) in FY11, JPY3.1 trillion (USD25.8 billion) in FY12, and JPY3.6 trillion (USD30 billion) in FY13. It thus remained at a high level, substantially adding to the national debt burden.<\/p>\n
The white paper also explained the effects of households of increased energy costs, quoting from a survey on household budgets issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.<\/p>\n
According to it, electricity expenses stood at an average of JPY9,850 (USD82.1) per household in 2010, before the earthquake, rising to JPY11,203 (USD93.4) in 2013. They thus rose 13.7%, climbing much faster than the 0.3% increase in total consumer spending.<\/p>\n
The white paper also presented various expenditures reduced during the same period, notably schooling and educational expenses, down 6.9%, cultural and amusement expenses, down 9.2%, so-called \u201cpocket money,\u201d down 20%, contributions to family members (i.e., parents living separately), down 9.5%, and social expenses, down 5.9%. Such reduced household spending was attributed to the need to offset higher energy expenses.<\/p>\n
As for the effects of rising electricity rates effects on industry, the white paper said that small and medium-sized companies, under the current circumstances, have been facing managerial difficulties because they cannot pass on increased energy costs, including higher power rates and fuel prices, to their customers.<\/p>\n
According to a survey of such businesses, conducted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) through a questionnaire distributed in October 2014, about 80% of the respondents said that the cost of raw materials and energy had increased from the previous year. About 40% of them also indicated having experienced a drop in ordinary profits of more than 10%.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The percentage of domestic power accounted for by fossil fuels rose from about 62% in FY10 (April 2010 to March 2011), before the giant earthquake of March 11, 2011, to about 88% in FY13, higher than the 76% level registered during the first \u201coil crisis\u201d of 1973. The increase in fuel costs for thermal-power generation, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":1316,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,8],"tags":[132,26,32,18,407],"class_list":["post-1315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-policies","tag-cabinet","tag-cost","tag-meti","tag-restart","tag-white-paper"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t