Competitive Landscape After Three Years Of Japan’s City-Gas Market Full Retail Competition

摘要

More than three years have passed since Japan’s city-gas retail market for all the market segments was openedfor competition on 1 April 2017. In the city-gas retail market, competition for gas customers has intensified asnew entrants, led by electric power companies, have set new pricing menus, improving services, andimplemented business alliances between companies. This paper studies supplier-switching1 trends, regionaltopics, and future trends in the Japan’s city-gas market full retail competition, with reference to the electricpower market, which is also an energy business utilizing infrastructure network, where retail competition wasintroduced one year ahead of the city-gas market. When the third set of recommendations by Advisory Boardon Regulatory Reforms under the Cabinet Office was concluded in June 2018, it was widely recognized thatthe liberalization of the electric power market had progressed rather smoothly with the gas market left behind.In that sense, it is important to observe the latest developments in the two markets closely.