◆ How are fees set...for whom? Significance of the Question/Huge Burden on Big Players and Distorted Competition
``Even though the government is calling for complete liberalization, it continues to maintain regulated prices. It's half-hearted.'' (Yuichiro Tamaki, representative of the Democratic Party of Japan)
A distorted structure was created, in which 10 power companies had to bear the burden of about 500 billion yen *Click to enlarge
◇ Fuel price hike occurred
in 2016 Nearly eight years have passed since full retail liberalization in April 2019, but low voltage regulation fees continue to exist in the name of transition method. In 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, the negative effects of this system along with the fuel cost adjustment system applied to the regulated tariff suddenly appeared.
This has exceeded the limits at which each retail utility is expected to cause fuel price increases, leading to a distorted situation in which the regulated price exists as the cheapest price. The cost burden in excess of the above limit became a burden for each deemed retail operation and led to a situation where many customers from new utilities also switched to deemed retail operations.
