The government plans to change the electricity pricing system as early as this month to restrict the type of business costs regional utilities can pass on to household power bills.
The power utilities, which typically hold regional monopolies and may raise power rates, will be prevented from passing on endowments and some advertising expenses, a government panel said Thursday. Bills will continue to reflect costs for personnel, maintenance and fuel.
The report didn't give an estimate for how much household power prices will be lowered by the new regulations, though Hirofumi Kawachi, an energy analyst at Tokyo-based Mizuho Investors Securities Co., said the changes are cosmetic and won't reduce rates.