Building the Foundations of Local Communities

Appropriate transactions with consumers

Invigorating the deregulated energy market

Since the deregulation of LP gas, NICIGAS has actively contributed to energizing the LP gas market. In the City Gas business, we entered the market when it was deregulated in April 2017, and in 2018 we entered the electric retail business and started providing energy in new markets. In August 2017, we established Tokyo Energy Alliance (TEA) in partnership with TEPCO Energy Partner to invigorate the deregulated market by increasing the number of new entrants in the city gas market.

Addressing the rectification of LP gas business practices

We are determined to confront customs and practices that hinder deregulation, striving for true “energy deregulation” that allows all members of the community to freely choose energy based on price and service.
In April 2024, a ministerial ordinance was promulgated to partially revise the "Act on the Securing of Safety and the Optimization of Transaction of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (the LPG Act).” This is intended to prohibit LP gas companies from providing free water heaters and other equipment to apartment buildings and then recovering the cost of such equipment by adding it to the gas rate. Our Representative Director, Senior Managing Executive Officer has actively participated in the LPG Distribution Working Group, which was established in 2023 by the General Resources Energy Investigation Committee, an advisory body to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, to discuss how to correct this business practice. We will comply with this revised ministerial ordinance.
We are also concerned about lawsuits against consumers by gas providers based on the practice of free piping of LP gas. Free piping is a practice whereby an LP gas supplier contracts with a construction company or builder to perform gas piping work free of charge at the time of building construction, and in exchange for the piping work cost not being included in the housing construction cost, the LP gas supplier seeks to secure the longstanding right to supply LP gas to the home. We support petitions from consumers against this practice and appeals to administrative authorities, in addition to the above working group. As a result, the latest revision of the ministerial ordinance enacted a rule that "prohibits the conclusion of contracts with conditions that restrict the switching of LP gas service providers," which may inhibit consumers from freely choosing their LP gas service providers. In addition, the "Guidelines for Appropriate Transactions in the Retail Sales of Liquefied Petroleum Gas" states, that "So-called 'loan piping' (i.e., free piping) can inhibit consumers' choice of LP gas supplier, and it is desirable that building owners and pipe owners to be the same entity in new contracts in the future so that loan piping will not be used.