TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese consumers will have to pay higher electricity bills under a government plan to help triple the generating capacity of renewable energy in the next decade and cut CO2 emissions.
Utility firms will be required to buy at a fixed rate electricity generated from renewable sources of energy -- mega solar, wind, geothermal, biomass and small hydro power -- from as early as 2012, the trade ministry said on Friday.
The cost will be passed on to consumers in a scheme called a "feed-in" tariff, which is already used in countries including Germany and Spain.
