TDB
Electricity bills increased by about 1.3 times from a year ago In response to the “100 yen increase”, 13% of companies passed on the “10 yen” price increase by changing their work styles such as “shorter working hours” and “vacations”
Questionnaire on the actual situation of companies regarding electricity rate hikes
Electricity rates have been rising one after another against the backdrop of soaring energy prices due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the depreciation of the yen.
In addition, five electric power companies, Tohoku Electric Power, Chugoku Electric Power, Shikoku Electric Power, Okinawa Electric Power, and Hokuriku Electric Power, have already applied to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to raise their regulated tariffs from April 2023. Prices will rise by 30% to 40%, and further impacts on households and businesses are expected.
Therefore, Teikoku Databank conducted a questionnaire about the increase in electricity charges.
-Survey Results (Summary)-
Total electricity bills increased by about 1.3 times from one year ago 70% of companies “cannot pass on the increase in electricity bills to selling prices at all”
Some companies are responding to electricity rate hikes by changing “work styles” such as “shortening operating and business hours” □ The survey period is from December 2 to 6, 2022, and the number of valid responses is 1,265 companies (Internet survey)
Total electricity bills increased by about 1.3 times from one year ago [Image 1
Electricity price change rate (year-on-year change)
When asked how their total electricity bills have changed compared to a year ago, 34.4% of all companies answered “[Increase] less than 20% to less than 40%,” the highest percentage. This was followed by “[increase] less than 20%” (30.0%) and “[increase] less than 40-60%” (12.4%). Including the companies that “increased,” 86.6% of the companies increased their total electricity bills from a year ago. On the other hand, 7.4% answered “no change” and 1.3% answered
“decrease”. The total electricity bill increased by an average of 28.7% [1] from a year ago, an increase of about 1.3 times.
A company said, “The amount of electricity used is about 95% compared to last year, but with the price hike, the electricity bill has soared to about 150% compared to last year. However, most of it is due to customer usage, and it is difficult to maintain service quality. We don’t plan to make any drastic cuts for this reason. We would like to reduce electricity bills to about 140% of the previous year’s level by reducing internal usage.”
On the other hand, according to a statement from a surfactant manufacturing company, “Total electricity bills have leveled off due to lower operating rates due to reduced automobile production and other factors.” Some companies did not see an increase. In addition, “In April of this year, construction work was carried out to replace the main lighting equipment with LED lighting. As a result, the electricity bill decreased by about 40%.” was also up.
70% of companies “cannot pass on the increase in electricity bills to selling prices at all”
[Image 2
Electricity charges passed on to price
When asked to what extent they were able to pass on the increase in electricity charges to selling prices and service charges, 29.6% of the companies responded that they were able to “pass on prices to some extent.”
Looking at the breakdown, only 2.2% of the companies answered that they were able to pass on the increase in electricity charges to the price. 1.9% of the companies answered that they had achieved 80% or more, and 3.5% answered that they had achieved 50% or more but less than 80%. On the other hand, 70.4% of companies said that they were unable to pass on the cost to the price at all.
Overall, the “price pass-through rate [2],” which indicates the ratio of the increase in electricity bills passed on to sales prices, etc., was 9.9%, less than 10%. This indicates that if the electricity rate increases by 100 yen, only 9.9 yen can be reflected in the sales price.
Companies have said, “We have begun to request that the increase in electricity charges be passed on to the price, but since it is not possible to implement detailed revisions, it is difficult to provide guidance unless the peak is seen.” Prices are increasing due to rising unit prices, and because it is a wholesale business, it is difficult for customers to accept the price pass-through on the grounds of rising electricity prices, and there is nothing we can do about it.” . Some companies are responding to electricity rate hikes by changing “work styles” such as “shortening operating and business hours” [Image 3
Measures to respond to electricity rate hikes and power saving requests (multiple answers)
As electricity prices continue to rise, concerns about a tightening of power supply and demand this winter have led the government to ask households and businesses across the country to save electricity for the first time in seven years since December 1st. Therefore, when asked about countermeasures (including consideration) for electricity rate hikes and power saving requests, “frequently turning off lights” (70.9%) was the top answer (multiple answers, same below). This was followed by “reviewing temperature settings for air conditioners, etc.” (47.7%) and “introducing products and equipment with low power consumption (LED, etc.)” (31.8%).
On the other hand, 13.3% of companies responded that they would like to “reduce working/business hours” (6.0%), “recommend taking vacations” (4.6%), “start and finish work earlier” (2.6%), and “work from home.” (2.3%) were implementing or considering measures to change the way they work.
In addition, about 4% of companies “changed from a new power company to a major power company” (4.2%) and “changed from a major power company to a new power company” (4.1%) in search of cheaper
electricity rates. , or are considering.
In addition, as one fuel retailer said, “We have completed the installation of solar power generation systems at our head office, branches, and sales offices this fiscal year, and are using electric power companies for the amount that cannot be covered by our own consumption.” Some companies are implementing or considering “installing or increasing in-house power generation” (2.8%). [Image 4
Feedback from companies
As a result of this survey, 86.6% of companies increased their total electricity charges compared to one year ago. The total electricity bill increased by an average of 28.7%, an increase of about 1.3 times from a year ago. However, 70% of companies “are not able to pass on the increase in electricity charges to sales prices or service charges at all,” and the “price pass-through rate” remains at less than 10%. Under these circumstances, 70% of the measures that companies are implementing or considering are “frequently turning off lights”, and measures that are relatively easy to start are ranked high. On the other hand, some companies are implementing or considering measures to change working styles, such as shortening operating hours, encouraging employees to take vacations, and starting and ending work earlier. was seen in On the other hand, the number of companies implementing or considering “changing from a new power company to a major power company” and “changing from a major power company to a new power company” for reasons such as the pursuit of cheaper electricity rates is approximately 4%.
As energy prices continue to soar, electric power companies cannot avoid raising electricity rates in order to avoid operating losses. Under these circumstances, the government plans to provide support for electricity charges for households and businesses from January 2023, but the content of the support does not keep up with the pace of the electricity price increases requested by electric power companies, and the public burden will be increased. It is expected to continue to grow. In addition to further enhancing the subsidy system to support the introduction of products and equipment that consume less power, the government is promoting various measures such as promoting the development of an environment in which companies can smoothly pass on the increase in electricity charges. It is essential to strengthen measures to deal with
[1] The average rate of change in electricity charges is as follows: “[Increase] 100% or more (more than double)”, “[Increase] 80% to less than 100%”, “[Increase] 60% to less than 80%”, and “[Increase] “[Increase] 40% to less than 60%”, “[Increase] 20% to less than 40%”, “[Increase] ~ less than 20%”, “[No change]”, “[Decrease] Less than 20%”, “[Decrease] 20% to less than 40%”, “[Decrease] 40% to less than 60%”, “[Decrease] 60% to less than 80%”, “[Decrease] 80% to less than 100%”, “[Decrease] 100% or more (power companies The median value for each option, multiplied by the number of respondents, and divided by the total number of respondents (excluding “Don’t know”)
[2] The price pass-through rate is the sum of the median value for each option multiplied by the number of respondents and divided by the total number of respondents.
Details about this release:
https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000578.000043465.html