Next-generation electricity meters are expected to be installed in all households in Japan by the end of March 2025, according to a document presented Monday by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
Facing a tight electricity supply situation after the 2011 Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant meltdowns, the government is seeking to accelerate the introduction of the so-called smart meters to help consumers save power by monitoring their electricity usage in real time.
Utilities, for their part, can improve the efficiency of meter-reading work as they can automatically receive power consumption data from the devices every half an hour or so.
In a draft energy policy unveiled in February, the government said it expects all households and companies to be equipped with smart meters early in the 2020s.
The 10 regional utilities said last September that they plan to finish introducing smart meters in their service areas by the end of fiscal 2032.
But in the latest plan shown Monday to a panel under METI, the utilities said they expect to do so by fiscal 2024, which ends in March 2025.
The number of smart meters for households and small-scale companies nationwide is expected to total about 80 million.