Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, rights, meets with Natsuo Yamaguchi, head of junior coalition partner Komeito, on Oct. 14 to discuss economic support measures in the face of soaring energy prices. (Koichi Ueda)

The government is moving to further expand subsidy programs to help households battling surging energy prices.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Natsuo Yamaguchi, head of junior coalition partner Komeito, agreed during an Oct. 14 meeting to provide support to curtail the price of city gas used for heating and mull similar steps to rein in electricity prices.

The government for many months has operated a subsidy program to curb prices at the pump and Kishida has pledged to put together a measure to restrain electricity bills.

With city gas prices also increasing by 20 to 30 percent over the course of a year, gas companies had been lobbying for inclusion in the government support program.

Soaring electricity, gas and fuel prices are due mainly to higher energy costs stemming from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Kishida and Yamaguchi also agreed on the support program for electricity. While Kishida had said he wanted to begin the program before next spring when another increase in electricity rates is expected, the two leaders agreed to work on measures from as early as January.

They also agreed to extend the gasoline subsidy program that was set to expire in December.

About 3.1 trillion yen ($21 billion) has already been allocated for the gasoline program from the government budget through the end of the year. Similar amounts are foreseen for the electricity and city gas measures.

As with the gasoline measure, which has been extended with no exit strategy in sight, the support measures for electricity and city gas could also end up being extended, dealing yet another hammer blow to the government’s dire fiscal situation.

Government officials acknowledged they faced difficulties coming up with specific details for the electricity bill support program, in part because there are 700 or so utilities that sell electricity, all with different rate plans.

An even bigger headache might be in store for the gas program because while major city gas companies operate in urban areas, many rural households still rely on propane gas bottle deliveries for their heating and cooking needs.

With around 200 city gas companies, along with about 15,000 companies selling propane gas in rural areas, devising an equitable program for providing support to gas users will be a major hurdle to overcome.

(This article was compiled from reports by Keishi Nishimura, Shiki Iwasawa and Taro Ono.)

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