Japanese consumers will be able to choose their power providers for the first time 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 percent of consumption. The liberalization follows earlier reforms for high-voltage consumers.
