On November 4, 2026, Tokyo Gas announced that it will expand its residential "Battery Network Service" later that month. The company will introduce a scheme to buy electricity discharged from home batteries into the power grid at up to ¥70/kWh. It will also launch a new My Page feature that lets users check the effects of remote control. The ¥70/kWh rate applies only to electricity discharged to the grid through same-day remote control that responds to real-time supply and demand. Day-ahead control, based on forecasts such as market prices, uses a different rate. Both rates include the purchase price for solar power, so ¥70 is not added on top of the usual power-selling income.
Tokyo Gas has offered a service that remotely controls the charging and discharging of home batteries since 2024. Until now, its main benefits were supply-demand balancing, blackout preparedness, self-consumption of solar power and subsidies for battery installation. The expansion adds payments tied to the purpose of each control action, along with a feature that visualizes the results. However, a household's financial benefit is not determined by the purchase rate alone. It also depends on the amount actually discharged, charging costs and the plan the household chooses.
The ¥70/kWh maximum applies to same-day grid discharge
The payments cover electricity discharged from a battery into the grid through Tokyo Gas's remote control. There are two types of control, each with its own purchase rate: "same-day control," which responds to the day's supply-demand conditions, such as activation commands from the capacity market, and "day-ahead control," which is based on forecasts such as wholesale electricity market prices.
| Control type | Trigger | Purchase rate | Rate conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Same-day control | Same-day supply and demand, such as capacity market activation commands | ¥70/kWh | Total amount, including the solar power purchase rate |
| Day-ahead control | Forecasts such as electricity market prices | Energy charge rate + ¥10/kWh | Total amount, including the solar power purchase rate. The base rate changes monthly |
For November 2026, the day-ahead purchase rate is ¥48.35/kWh. The calculation starts from the energy charge rate for usage above 300 kWh per month under Tokyo Gas's "Basic Plan," then adds the fuel cost adjustment and the renewable energy surcharge. For November, that works out to ¥39.50 − ¥5.33 + ¥4.18 + ¥10 = ¥48.35 per kWh. Because the fuel cost adjustment and other items change, the rate in later months may differ.
In other words, ¥70/kWh applies to grid discharge in response to same-day supply-demand adjustment. It does not apply to all discharge from the battery, or to electricity consumed at home.
The capacity market secures the supply capacity that will be needed in the future, measured in kW. Under this service, Tokyo Gas remotely controls home batteries, measures the electricity actually discharged to the grid in kWh and pays for it. kW, which measures supply capacity, and kWh, which measures energy, are different units. In December 2025, Tokyo Gas ran an effectiveness test using more than 200 subscribers' home batteries to check whether they could respond remotely to activation commands. The company is now preparing to provide supply capacity from April 2027.
How to read the ¥2,000–¥5,000 annual payback estimate
Even a high purchase rate does not translate directly into household profit. The result depends on how many times the battery is controlled in a year, how many kWh it discharges to the grid in total and how much electricity is needed to charge it. Tokyo Gas also says remote control may increase electricity bills in some cases.
For its "Otasuke Course," the company gives an annual payback estimate of about ¥2,000–¥5,000, with no limit on the number of control days. Its "Otasuke Course (Lite)" assumes about 30 control days a year and an estimated payback of about ¥2,000. However, the number of control days alone cannot tell you the actual discharge volume or profit.
This estimate is not total income from power sales. It is Tokyo Gas's calculation comparing annual finances when the battery is used only for self-consumption with those when the household joins the remote control service. The assumptions are annual electricity use of 5,727 kWh, a 4 kW solar system, an 11 kWh battery and a rated output of 5.9 kW. The calculation assumes Tokyo Gas's Basic Plan for electricity and its solar power purchase plan for sales.
The figure of about ¥2,000 is based on fiscal 2025 spot market prices in the Tokyo area, while about ¥5,000 uses fiscal 2022 prices. Neither is a guaranteed payback amount, nor does either show how many years it would take to recover the equipment cost. To judge a household's own finances, it is necessary to compare self-consumption only with participation in remote control, based on solar generation, electricity consumption and battery charge-discharge patterns. This estimate does not reveal individual profit or payback periods that account for battery degradation and charge-discharge losses.
Eligible models, contract terms and blackout reserve also matter
To join, users must buy a new eligible battery and connect it to the internet so that it can be controlled remotely. They must also use services from compatible manufacturers. In principle, enrollment in a course is possible only when the battery is purchased, so batteries already installed cannot necessarily join without conditions.
To receive grid-discharge payments, users must join a course such as the Otasuke Course for households whose feed-in tariff period has ended, then configure and apply for grid discharge on a compatible model. The eligible manufacturers are three: Omron Social Solutions, Kyocera and Choshu Industry, but not every model from each company is supported. Users also need an electricity supply contract with Tokyo Gas and a contract for supplying solar power.
According to Tokyo Gas, there are no enrollment fees, monthly fees or cancellation charges for the control service. That does not make the battery itself or its installation free. The company also says it will keep the battery charge level that users specify as a reserve for blackouts. Beyond the payments, how much power a household wants to keep available for emergencies is an important factor in deciding whether to take part in remote control.
With the new My Page, all subscribers can check scheduled control actions and their history. Tokyo Gas electricity customers can also see financial benefits and the electricity bill savings from their solar and battery equipment. However, the savings from equipment are estimates compared with a case without solar power or batteries, and may differ from actual bills.
Note that the two estimates use different comparison baselines. The annual payback estimate is the difference from using the battery only for self-consumption, while the savings from equipment show the difference from having neither solar power nor a battery. They cannot simply be added together as amounts on the same basis.
Mechanisms that adjust power consumption or battery charging and discharging according to supply and demand are called demand response (DR). A system that bundles batteries distributed across many homes and operates them like a single power plant is called a virtual power plant (VPP). As Tokyo Gas aims to provide supply capacity from April 2027, the key question will be how many households it can enlist and whether it can sustain stable control. For users, it is important to look beyond the high purchase rate, check eligible models, contract terms and blackout preparedness, and then assess actual control history and annual results.