Japan's new carbon tax to cost utilities $1bln annually (Non-Nuclear Impact)

TOKYO, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Japan's new tax on carbon
emissions will cost utilities about 80 billion yen ($1.02
billion) annually from 2016, adding to their already high costs
of running power stations after the Fukushima crisis shut most
of the country's nuclear plants, a government backed think-tank
said.
    Japan will gradually phase in the tax on oil, natural gas
and coal over the next five years, in a move that will hit the
balance sheets of businesses from refineries and power plants to
factories and gas stations.
    The tax will be added to existing levies already imposed on
fossil fuels, and will generate about 260 billion yen in
additional revenue annually from April 2016, the Ministry of
Finance says.
    The tax, which will be used to fund green initiatives, will
be introduced in three phases, with the first increase adding
between 12-31 percent on existing levies.      
    Yu Nagatomi, a researcher at the Institute of Energy
Economics of Japan, said nearly a third of the 2016 revenue, or
80 billion yen, will come from the country's power companies,
including Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), the operator
of the Fukushima Daiichi plant hit by three reactor meltdowns
last March.