Japanese Government to Promote LED Street Light Adoption Through New Electricity Pricing System

　　Recently, the Japanese government, in order to promote the widespread adoption of LED street lights, has approved a new electricity pricing system proposed by 10 electric power companies including Tokyo Electric Power. The new system adds a pricing tier for electric lights under 10W. This new electricity pricing system will take effect from December 1, 2011, which will help reduce the cost of electricity payment after the introduction of LED street lights.

　　According to the new electricity pricing system, the electricity pricing for street lights and small-scale advertising billboards in the past was based on a minimum unit of "under 20W". For example, when introducing a 5W LED street light, based on Tokyo Electric Power's pricing standard, the monthly electricity fee for "under 20W" was 108 yen, but if calculated under the new system, the fee for "under 10W" would be only 75 yen. Okinawa Electric Power, which previously used "under 40W" as its minimum unit, will also add "10W to under 20W".

　　Currently, in response to the upcoming halt in the production and use of incandescent light bulbs in Japan starting from 2012, lighting-related companies such as Toshiba Lighting and Technology Corp., Mitsubishi Electric OSRAM Ltd., and Panasonic have each proposed their respective support plans.

Toshiba Lighting had already begun to cease production of E26 base incandescent lamps before 2010. Mitsubishi Osram planned to stop producing incandescent lamps with opaque bulbs, transparent bulbs, and globe types by 2012. Panasonic, on the other hand, directly increased the shipment proportion of energy-saving lamps. In addition to gradually phasing out mass production of incandescent lamps, these major Japanese lighting manufacturers have also actively entered the LED lighting production sector.

According to research by the Japanese market research firm Techno Systems, the top 3 LED bulb suppliers in the Japanese market in 2010 and their market shares were Panasonic with 27.8%, Toshiba Lighting with 24.7%, and Sharp with 20.5%. These top 3 manufacturers together accounted for approximately 70% or more of the Japanese LED bulb market share.

Currently, Japan is the most active region in adopting LED lighting. Whether for government entities or general consumers, given the high electricity rates for both industrial and household use, combined with the aftermath of the '311 incident', the Japanese government and people are united in continuously moving toward the goal of 'energy conservation'. It is expected that the government will also release subsidy policies in a timely manner to further advance this effort.