The Okinawa Electric Power Company, Incorporated (OEPC) Group seeks to create new value as a comprehensive energy supplier through services to support both corporate and individual customers and to become a business group with a sense of solidary, growing and developing hand-in-hand with the community.

In the electric power business, which forms the core of the Group’s operations, the retail electricity market was fully liberalized in the Okinawa region in April 2016, as it was on mainland Japan, ushering in an era of full-scale competition. Legal unbundling of power transmission and distribution sectors from generation and retail sectors is scheduled for April 2020 as a means to ensure the neutrality of power transmission and distribution. OEPC is positioned as an “Approved general power transmission and distribution operator,” which permits participation in both the retail and generation sides of the electricity business, so the Company will maintain its integrated power transmission and distribution structure even in the post-unbundling era.

Against this backdrop, we formulated OEPC Group Medium- to Long-Term Growth Strategies to define the corporate group we want to be. With these strategies as our guide, we will boldly embrace challenges as a cohesive group to resolve various management issues and achieve our financial targets.

The electric power business, we may experience a slowdown in demand for electricity, reflecting a wider perspective on saving energy, but demand for new energy is likely to grow, fueled mainly by large-scale urban development projects. To respond to increasingly sophisticated and diversified energy needs, we will draw on the strengths of the OEPC Group, which provides both electricity and gas, and strive to expand sales by resourcefully leveraging comprehensive energy services, and vigorously promoting all-electric options. On the cost front, we will push ahead on verification and revision of operations and work to boost profitability and sharpen competitiveness. In addition, we will reinforce investment in growth areas of the future and emphasize improved capital efficiency.

Regarding measures to curb global warming, we will work toward achievement of the CO2 reduction target established for the whole electric power industry through steady operation of the Yoshinoura Thermal Power Plant, which uses liquefied natural gas (LNG)— the most efficient source—as its fuel.

Regarding disaster response, we will emphasize business operations and facility management with heightened awareness of disaster prevention and measures to minimize damage should disaster occur. Such approaches include steps to get services quickly back on line when typhoons knock out power and investment in facilities more resilient to the impact of natural disasters, including earthquakes and tsunamis.

In efforts to eliminate all accidents and disaster-caused damage, we are well aware that safety is the foundation of business and our highest priority. Working together with Group and partner companies, we will adhere strictly to a policy of safety management and work diligently to foster a safety culture as we fulfill our mission to ensure stable supply of electricity.

We will also be thorough in our efforts to keep the number of working hours to an appropriate level. This includes efforts to prevent situations where employees work for long periods in a stretch. It is our goal to ensure the health of our employees and to promote a harmonious work-life balance. In activities other than the electric power business, all employees under the Group umbrella are well aware of the corporate mission and the roles they play in fulfilling this mission. We will continue to provide comprehensive energy services—the Group’s core business—but we will also direct effort into measures that contribute to expanded sales outside the Group and also improve profitability and capital efficiency. Our goal is to encourage self-driven growth in each field of business. We will also verify and revise operations to achieve dramatic cost reduction.

Going forward, the OEPC Group will work as a cohesive unit to address various management issues and thereby sustain growth and development.