Shutting down all the nuclear reactors caused a fourth problem by putting a financial squeeze on power companies. Thermal power stations filled the hole left by the shutdown of nuclear plants, which had accounted for some 30 percent of the electric power mix. As a result, thermal power production approached 90 percent of the power supply, costs for fossil fuels rose sharply, and electric power companies posted tremendous losses. That led to rate increases and consumer complaints not only about nuclear power plants, but also about the monopolistic structure of the electric power industry itself. In the meantime, nuclear power was largely replaced by fossil power, mainly gas powered Plants and oil-powered plants. The shift has had a dramatic impact on greenhouse gas emissions, which rose 4 percent in 2012 and 1.3 percent in 2013, raising Japan’s emissions 10.6 percent above the 1990 rate. The International Energy Agency has expressed its concern about the dramatic switch toward fossil fuel and the impact on emissions, and Japan faces a tough road if it is to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 3.8 percent vis-à-vis 1990 by 2020. In September 2012, the Nuclear Regulatory Authority was newly established by separation from the Agency for National Resources and Energy (ANRE), set new safety regulations, and began inspecting nuclear power plants. The Kyushu Electric Power Company’s Sendai nuclear power plant passed inspection and is likely to restart in the summer of 2015. Electric companies simply cannot survive without nuclear power plants as base load.