Nine electric power companies would post a combined loss of 2.7 trillion yen ($33.8 billion) in fiscal 2012 if all nuclear plants remain idle for the remainder of the period, the industry ministry said.
Nine electric power companies would post a combined loss of 2.7 trillion yen ($33.8 billion) in fiscal 2012 if all nuclear plants remain idle for the remainder of the period, the industry ministry said.
Without running reactors, the regional utilities would be forced to spend enormous amounts on fuel for thermal power generation to secure stable supplies of electricity, the ministry said.
The ministry submitted its preliminary calculations on power companies’ finances to a May 7 meeting of a governmental committee looking into power supply and demand.
The nine power companies posted a combined loss of 1.5 trillion yen for fiscal 2011. As a result, the total reserves of the nine utilities, excluding Okinawa Electric Power Co., which does not operate a nuclear plant, fell to 2.1 trillion yen at the end of the fiscal year from 3 trillion yen a year earlier, according to the ministry.
The calculations show that the utilities’ reserves would dry up at the end of fiscal 2012 under the current circumstances.
Power companies hold its past profits as reserves to prepare for sharp rises in fuel costs and other emergencies. Tokyo Electric Power Co. has used up all of its reserves to deal with the accident at its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant and to buy fuel for thermal power generation.