Expanded household city gas sales business to TEPCO Kansai November 16 16:30

TEPCO will start selling city gas for households in Kansai as well, and started accepting it from the 16th.

The retail business of urban gas for households has been liberalized since April 2017, and companies other than gas companies can also enter.



TEPCO will expand its city gas business to Kansai as well as its main Kanto region, and started accepting applications from the 16th.



At the office in Kita-ku, Osaka, a sales representative called a customer to introduce a new service.



According to TEPCO, it is set to be about 3% cheaper than the general price of city gas in Kansai, and it will be 3% cheaper in the first year, 6% in total.



Before the liberalization, Osaka Gas monopolized the city gas in Kansai except for a part, but due to the liberalization, Kansai Electric Power is increasing the number of customers by selling it as a set with electricity.



TEPCO has already started selling electricity in Kansai, and we would like to connect it to a city gas contract, mainly for those who have an electricity rate contract or who move from Tokyo to Kansai.



Shinichi Yamada, General Manager of West Japan Division, TEPCO Energy Partner Sales Division, said, "Kansai is attractive in the second largest market after the Tokyo metropolitan area. I want to convey new plans to customers and conclude contracts."

Osaka Gas will meet you

On the other hand, Osaka Gas will meet with the sale of electric power, which was the stronghold of the electric power company.



We are launching plans one after another that combine with popular services of IT companies.



For example, if you sign an electricity contract with Osaka Gas, there is a plan that the annual membership fee of 4900 yen for the paid membership service "Amazon Prime" of Amazon, a major online shopping company, will be free.



There is also a plan that includes a set of usage fees for the paid service of Sony's home video game console "PlayStation."



The aim is to increase the number of electricity users and stop gas customers from leaving.



Vice President Masataka Fujiwara, who will be appointed as the new president in January next year, said at a press conference, "We will continue to follow the conventional method, but with the wisdom of the digital company, we will do our best to provide new added value." He talked about his enthusiasm to win.

The competition for gas and electricity

The retail business of urban gas for households was liberalized in April 2017.



Until then, in Kansai, except for some areas, Osaka Gas sold it exclusively, and the number of contracts was about 6.2 million.



After the liberalization of gas, Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc. has entered this field and has the largest number of contracts.



By strengthening set sales with electricity, we robbed Osaka Gas customers, and as of the end of September, the number of gas contracts in Kansai reached about 1.34 million.



Meanwhile, the retail electricity business for households was liberalized a year earlier in April 2016.



In this field, new participating companies are robbing Kansai Electric Power's customers.



In July, about a quarter of the electricity sales volume of Kansai Electric Power before liberalization was transferred to new participating companies, so-called new electric power.



As of the end of September, Osaka Gas, which is a representative of new electric power, has about 1.42 million electric power contracts, and is regaining customers who have been robbed of gas by electricity.