The Japan Gas Association
1-15-12 Toranomon Minato-ku, Tokyo105-0001, JAPAN21 July 2020
JGA Chair Michiaki Hirose Press conference on 21 July 2020
Summary of remarks

1. Impact of COVID-19 on city gas industry and correspondence According to JGA's interview for gas companies regarding impact ofCOVID-19 on June's gas sales volume , it figured out to beapproximately 20% to 30% down for commercial use , 10% to 20%
down for industrial use , and 10% down for the total. (all compared tothose of June last year,) . Gas sales volume has been graduallyrecovering compared to the previous month (May), but impact on gas
companies is significant and prolonged.
 In such a rough situation, from the viewpoint of supporting those whoare in need of life, many gas companies have taken gas fee grace
measures for several months from the February meter reading fee.
Currently, each gas company consider and make decisions based on theactual conditions in each region and the business conditions.
 Japan's four major gas companies (Tokyo Gas, Osaka Gas, Toho Gas,and Saibu Gas) recently announced extension of the payment deadlinefor the fee in August meter reading fee.
2. Measures against combined disasters such as COVID-19 and naturaldisasters
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We must be prepared for a long-term struggle for COVID-19. In addition,
as with the recent heavy rain (early July) that caused major damage inKumamoto Prefecture, it is expected that natural disasters will frequently
occur in the future.
In the event of a large-scale supply disruption such as an earthquake or
heavy rain, Japan's gas industry has traditionally promoted earlyrecovery by gathering support from all over the country and putting it all
at once in the disaster area. However, in the current COVID-19
pandemic situation, this method creates additional congestion that canlead to the spread of infection, additional measures are needed.
Therefore, the gas industry first organized the concept of initial response1

to earthquakes under the COVID-19 pandemic. This idea is the same inthe event of storms and floods. Specifically, it is necessary to confirm theintentions of the national and local governments when dispatchingsupport, and to thoroughly implement infection prevention measureswhen dispatching.
On top of that, we have begun to sort out issues for smooth restoration
support and work on areas that can be dealt with in advance. Examples
of issues include securing hygiene products for infection prevention, andsecuring accommodation places/restoration bases that prevent 3C(crowded, close contact, closed) conditions. We will proceed to solvethese issues, but since there are things that can be difficult to solve onlywith gas companies and JGA, we will cooperate with local governments
etc. under leadership of the national government.

3. Smart safety initiatives
 Characteristic of Japan's gas business is that the city gas company isresponsible not only for its own facilities but also for the safety ofcustomers. Safety is very important. The gas industry has traditionally
worked diligently to increase the level and efficiency of the safety. In
addition to this, accelerating digitalization in safety is an important issue.
 In such a situation, the "Smart Safety Public-Private Council" started onJune 29. This is a meeting in which, under the circumstances where
technological innovation, digitization, COVID-19 response, etc. arerequired, the top of industry groups related to energy and industrial
safety, including the Federation of Electric Power Companies, with theparticipation of the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Kajiyama.
 Regarding safety of gas, first of all, it is important to steadily promotemeasures such as accident prevention measures based on the “GasSafety Advancement Plan”, renewal of gas works, and renewal to highly
safe gas equipment.
 While maintaining basics, in order to further improve the level, in parallelwith this conference, it is possible to work on smarter safety using digitaltechnology, such as non-contact type recovery opening and closing work
using smart meters. This is an urgent task.
 In the future, aiming to formulate a smart safety action plan around thisfall, with the agreement of member companies. Although there are someissues, including institutional and cost aspects, we intend to firmly
promote this matter.

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4. Schedule for the time being
 Originally, this summer was supposed to have been exciting at theOlympic and Paralympic Games, but unfortunately it was postponed,and various events and meetings were also canceled, postponed, andvirtually held.
 On the other hand, it is expected that the government will launch various
policies while striving to achieve both COVID-19 countermeasures andeconomic recovery.
 Regarding energy and environmental policies, various movements areexpected to emerge.
 Japan's government has recently announced that it will consider specificmeasures such as the fade-out of inefficient coal-fired thermal power
plants and a drastic review of the rules for using trunk electrictransmission lines. Furthermore, in the future there will be movements
for the next Strategic Energy Plan.
 From this summer to autumn, the gas industry and the JGA would like tomake every effort to respond to those movements.

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