The ANRE presents revised plan for the energy conservation ranking: benefits for achieving a full score
On March 15th, the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy (ANRE) of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) presented a revised plan for the “Energy Conservation Communication Ranking System”. which evaluates a satisfaction degree of energy conservation information and services provided for general consumers by electricity and gas retailers on a five-point scale.
ANRE will study the methods of providing incentives to the highest-ranking “Five-star” companies, which are increasing every year, to promote continuous improvement efforts. This was presented at the Energy Conservation Guideline Committee for energy retailers.
The number of five-star electricity retailers increased from 11 in FY2021 to 30 in FY2023, accounting for one-third of all participating business operators. In the current system, scores are based on whether or not they provide information such as the year-on-year comparison of monthly energy consumption, services to predict charges and energy usage, and the conversion to energy-saving equipment.
As a method of providing incentives, ANRE suggested a plan to announce the business operators who achieved full scores. They are also considering reviewing the point allocations and adding new evaluation items.
The number of electricity retailers participated in the ranking system in FY2023 decreased from 136 to 89. The number largely dropped to two-third of the previous year. The reason behind this is the non-participation of business operators who recieved low evaluations in the previous fiscal year. The ANRE will be considered to facilitate the participation of these low-evaluated business operators in the future.