Japan gives consumers more sway in choosing power retailers

Tokyo

JAPANESE consumers were able to choose their power providers for the first time on Friday as part of a decades-long opening of the county's electricity market aimed at weakening the grip of regional power utilities.

The opening is being promoted as a way to lower prices and create opportunities for foreign investors in the nation's low-voltage electric market, giving greater choice to roughly 85 million households and small businesses, which account for about 38 per cent of consumption. The liberalisation follows earlier reforms for high-voltage consumers.