Japan’s two major electricity giants have temporarily stopped accepting new industrial clients.

Golden Ten Data reported on April 3 that due to the turmoil in the fuel market caused by the Middle East war, at least two of Japan’s largest electricity retailers have temporarily ceased accepting new industrial customers while waiting for market conditions to stabilize. A spokesperson for Tokyo Gas, which provides gas and electricity services to the Japanese capital, stated that procurement costs have been affected by ongoing conflict; the company stopped accepting new industrial electricity customers from March 6 and has yet to decide when to resume. In addition, the electricity retail division of oil giant ENEOS Holdings, Eneos Power Corp, also announced on its official website that it has suspended the acceptance of applications from new industrial customers. These restrictions apply only to high-voltage industrial users; both companies are still accepting applications from low-voltage household users.