TOKYO, June 6: More than a million Japanese retail electricity customers have switched suppliers, nine weeks into a major power industry shake-up aimed at boosting choice and energy security, figures from the national grid monitor showed. The change represents about 1.7 percent of retail electricity users, with Tokyo Electric Power Tepco – the operator of the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear station – losing nearly 650,000 customers.The reforms, introduced on April 1, were sparked by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami and subsequent nuclear disaster, which highlighted problems in transferring electricity across regions.The government ended regional monopolies and opened up retail electricity markets to competition, aiming to create a thriving wholesale market that will drive down prices and help boost the economy.Tepco has now lost more than 2 percent of its customers since April 1. The utility could face a $90 million hit to its pre-tax profit for the year to March 2017, the Nikkei newspaper reported in late April.Tokyo Gas is among the biggest winners, signing up more than 300,000 electricity customers.Wholesale power trading has also increased, with 2.8 terawatt hours traded on the spot market from April 1 to May 31, up 24.4 percent from the same period a year earlier, Japan Electric Power Exchange data showed. (AGENCIES)
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