Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. said Tuesday its net loss expanded to 67.10 billion yen ($513 million) for the three months ended June from 3.03 billion yen a year ago, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine caused fuel prices to soar.

The widened loss came as the company was forced to pay more for coal and liquefied natural gas for its thermal power operations, the company said.

Meanwhile, sales rose 50.7 percent to 1.48 trillion yen for the period as the higher cost of energy was partly passed onto customers.

The utility, also known as TEPCO, did not reveal its earnings forecast for the current business year through March, citing uncertain energy market conditions due to the war in Ukraine.

TEPCO, operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, announced the same day it will consider raising prices for rate plans for large-scale business operators such as shopping centers and factories to absorb soaring energy prices.

The possible change will affect up to about 170,000 contracts, and the company plans to finalize the details of the rate hike by the end of September, it said.

==Kyodo

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