Tokyo, Aug. 12 (Jiji Press)–TEPCO Energy Partner Inc. plans to launch by the end of March 2022 a service aimed at promoting solar power generation at households in Japan, its president, Nobuhide Akimoto, has said in an interview.

“We’ll focus on operations helping realize carbon neutrality,” he said.

Under the envisioned service, the power retail unit of Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. <9501> will allow households to introduce solar power generation systems without initial costs. They can use solar panels, storage batteries and hot-water supply equipment utilizing surplus electricity at a fixed monthly fee, according to Akimoto.

Wider use of solar power generation at households is expected to reduce power companies’ revenues from electricity sales.

But Akimoto said, “We won’t buck the downward trend in electricity sales,” stressing that the firm aims to make the new service a key source of revenue and at the same time concentrate on helping businesses introduce renewable energy.

With the Japanese government poised to promote household solar power systems, other major power companies and trading houses have launched services similar to that planned by the TEPCO group.

Akimoto said he believes that his company can differentiate its new service from those of rivals by utilizing its expertise.

In late June, TEPCO Energy Partner was ordered by the Consumer Affairs Agency to suspend part of its operations for six months after outsourced companies were found to have fraudulently lured customers.

In order to prevent such misconduct, a new division under the direct supervision of the TEPCO Energy Partner president, which will be tasked with collecting and analyzing customers’ opinions, is slated to be set up as early as this autumn, Akimoto said.