Okinawa Gas New Power, a new electric power retailer established in April as a joint venture of Okinawa Gas of Naha City and eREX CO. Ltd. of Tokyo, is scheduled to begin electric power sales business in October.

The company is the first in Okinawa to go into power retail business since the electric power sales was completely liberalized Apr. 1st this year.

The Okinawa Gas New Power reportedly has a contract to buy electric power from the Palm Royal Itoman No. 1 Power Plant, a solar power plant owned by Palm Royal Co. The power is about equal to the needs of 450 family households.

The company then sells the power at a lower price than Okinawa Electric Power Co., the established Okinawa power company, to several hotels, including Hotel Palm Royal in Naha, a hotel managed by Palm Royal Co. Other potential customers include company offices and small businesses.

In the future, Okinawa Gas New Power aims to increase their sales to small to mid-size hospitals in Okinawa. The company also intends eventually to build its own power plant to ensure a stable supply of electric power. The plant would go on line in 2019 at earliest.

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