{"id":176482,"date":"2026-03-17T11:44:01","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T02:44:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/?post_type=news&#038;p=176482&#038;lang=en"},"modified":"2026-03-17T11:44:01","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T02:44:01","slug":"fukuoka-subsidizes-utility-costs-for-smes","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/news\/fukuoka-subsidizes-utility-costs-for-smes\/","title":{"rendered":"Fukuoka Subsidizes Utility Costs for SMEs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Fukuoka City announced on March 13 that it will subsidize up to half of the increased utility costs faced by small and medium-sized businesses and sole proprietors due to rising fuel prices. The subsidy will cover electricity, gas, and gasoline expenses, with payments capped at \u00a5600,000 per business. The program applies to energy use during two high-demand periods: July\u2013September 2025 and January\u2013March 2026. Applicants must calculate the impact of price increases based on their usage and the rise in unit costs. Applications will be accepted from March 23 through June 30. The city allocated \u00a5790 million for the program, including administrative costs, using funds from a national local government support grant. Officials said the measure is intended to ease financial pressure on smaller businesses affected by prolonged price increases and geopolitical tensions influencing fuel markets. <strong>Source:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kyushu01.com\/zaikaikyushu\/news\/detail\/226fa50d-1487-484a-b39d-0951b065f6b4#:~:text=%E7%A6%8F%E5%B2%A1%E5%B8%82%E3%81%AF3%E6%9C%88,%E3%81%AE%E3%81%BB%E3%81%8B%E3%80%81%E9%83%B5%E9%80%81%E3%81%A7%E3%82%82%E5%8F%97%E3%81%91%E4%BB%98%E3%81%91%E3%82%8B%E3%80%82\" target=\"_blank\">Zaikai Kyushu<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nikkei.com\/article\/DGXZQOJC138OW0T10C26A3000000\/\" target=\"_blank\">Nikkei<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/fnn_tenjin-city-view-cars_2026_WEB.jpeg?resize=1400%2C1050&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"1400\" height=\"1050\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-176483\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/fnn_tenjin-city-view-cars_2026_WEB.jpeg?w=1400&amp;ssl=1 1400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/fnn_tenjin-city-view-cars_2026_WEB.jpeg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/fnn_tenjin-city-view-cars_2026_WEB.jpeg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/fnn_tenjin-city-view-cars_2026_WEB.jpeg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/>Photo: Fukuoka Now<\/p>\n<p>Stay informed with the latest Fukuoka &#038; Kyushu news and events in English. Sign up for our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/mailmagazine\/\">free weekly newsletter<\/a> today and never miss a beat. Opt out anytime, your privacy is our priority. Get the inside scoop with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/mailmagazine\/\">The Now<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Summaries based on public content, errors may occur during translation. Images credited independently. Send feedback using <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/contact\/\">this <strong>form<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fukuoka City announced on March 13 that it will subsidize up to half of the increased utility costs faced by small and medium-sized businesses&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30292,"featured_media":176483,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[],"class_list":["post-176482","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","location-fukuoka-city","news-category-business","en-US"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/176482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30292"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176482"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}