The government approved Wednesday a request from Tokyo Electric Power Co. to raise household electricity rates by an average 8.46 percent from Sept. 1 to help the utility overcome its financial plight following last year's nuclear disaster at its Fukushima Daiichi power plant.

The permission will pave the way for the country's largest utility known as TEPCO to receive a public fund injection of 1 trillion yen Tuesday, meaning it will effectively be placed under state control.

Stressing that the government strictly checked the appropriateness of the costs to be passed on to consumers, energy agency chief Ichiro Takahara urged TEPCO President Naomi Hirose to continue to fulfill its key tasks such as paying massive disaster-related compensation and providing stable electricity supply to its service area including Tokyo.