The Trade Ministry of Japan is considering fully liberalising the retail gas market in 2017. The gas market liberalisation started in 1995 and in 1999 Japan lowered the eligibility threshold to 1 mcm/year (40% of consumers); it was lowered again in 2003 (over 0.5 mcm/year, i.e. 44% of customers) and in 2007 (over 0.1 mcm/year, i.e. about 50% of consumers). Small businesses and households could become eligible in 2017, when the liberalisation is completed. They represent 25 million connection points and Yen 2,400 bn (US$20bn) in annual gas sales. Japan expects the opening to increase competition and to reduce retail gas prices, currently four times as expensive as in the United States (US$13.7c/kWh in 2014 in Japan, compared to US$3.2c/kWh in the United States).
In late 2013, Japan decided to open the residential electricity market from 2016. Regional monopolies could also be dismantled.
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