Ten power companies to offer green pricing
Tokyo Electric Power Co and nine other Japanese electric utilities are to introduce green pricing for renewable energy from January. Consumers and corporate customers will be offered the option to buy green electricity at a higher price than brown electricity. The green fees will be paid into funds run by each utility and the utilities will match the private sector investments with their own contributions. The funds will be managed by a third party and be used to subsidise power plants based on wind or solar power as well as to compensate utility companies for the higher cost of green energy production. The green fee for each household is expected to range between ´500 and ´1000 a month and to be paid through the normal electricity billing system. Each power company will set up its own green power fund.