Toyota Can Spy On My Electric Meter. If The Nikkei Is Correctly Informed

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

According to The Nikkei [sub] “Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday it will start offering on Thursday a free application for smartphones that sounds an alarm if the user’s home electricity use reaches a preset level.” Don’t believe it. The Nikkei made it up.

According to the report, “the software causes the handset to vibrate and displays a warning message if electricity use reaches a preset level, based on power consumption data updated every five minutes by Tokyo Electric Power Co.”

Whoa, thought I, so TEPCO now knows in real time how much power I use? And they give those sensitive data to Toyota? And Toyota makes my phone rattle and shake if I’m a bad boy and use too much juice?

I raced outside and inspected the meter for any communication gadgetry. Having found none (see above), I inspected the neighbor’s meter. Same thing (see left). All I can say is that neighbor-san is the same example of power prudence as we are.

See, where we live in Japan, there is not much privacy as far as electric consumption goes. Meters are mounted on the outside wall, in plain view of everyone, including the meter maid that makes her rounds once a month. Is she out of a job? And is that non-privacy taken too far?

A few phone calls later, I can state that TEPCO has no idea how much power I’m using right now. And that the meter-lady is still gainfully employed. And that someone at The Nikkei should look for other employment.

According to sources close to the matter at Toyota, “it looks like Nikkei’s English service got it very wrong.”

The application mentioned in the Snopes-worthy report is nothing else than one of the myriads of TEPCO power usage applications in circulation in Japan. I have one on my phone. The data are available in real-time on TECPO’s website. Raw data, showing power usage in the complete TEPCO service area, can be downloaded and used by one of the many apps and gadgets on smartphones, laptops and electronic billboards all over Japan. Equipped with such a device, I can wave it at my wife and say: “Honey, please turn the A/C down, it’s o.k., we are at 73 percent.” But there is (apart from a few smart meters) no real time per-customer data.

And why is Toyota getting in on the act? Heavens knows. To look green, presumably. And maybe to collect telephone numbers of environmentally conscious Japanese. But definitely not to “sound an alarm if the user’s home electricity use reaches a preset level.”

For the good of all, maybe The Nikkei should be exempt from the rigorous power saving requirements and should be allowed to provide adequate cooling to its editors. The heat is beginning to have debilitating effects.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

More by Bertel Schmitt

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 5 comments
  • G35X G35X on Jul 06, 2011

    On April 14, 2009 Toyota and its subsidiary Toyota Home announced that they were planning to implement their “Home Energy Management System (HEMS)” in the houses built by Toyota Home by 2011. The system consists of rooftop solar panels, off-peak electricity storage Li-ion battery pack and PHV/EV charging system. (http://www.toyota.co.jp/jp/news/09/Apr/nt09_0413.html) If you have this kind of “smart” electric system at your home, it is easy to write an app so that system will keep you informed in real time of the status of your energy use.

  • Bama Bama on Jul 06, 2011

    G35, I think Bertel wrote on that recently. I'm surprised that there are so few smart meters in Japan at this stage. Most U.S. utilities are adding them as quickly as possible; they tend to be more accurate, allow close monitoring of usage (hugely helpful to utilities), can detect illegal grid-tie systems, etc. I'd have expected the Japanese to have been all over these.

  • MaintenanceCosts It's not a Benz or a Jag / it's a 5-0 with a rag /And I don't wanna brag / but I could never be stag
  • 3-On-The-Tree Son has a 2016 Mustang GT 5.0 and I have a 2009 C6 Corvette LS3 6spd. And on paper they are pretty close.
  • 3-On-The-Tree Same as the Land Cruiser, emissions. I have a 1985 FJ60 Land Cruiser and it’s a beast off-roading.
  • CanadaCraig I would like for this anniversary special to be a bare-bones Plain-Jane model offered in Dynasty Green and Vintage Burgundy.
  • ToolGuy Ford is good at drifting all right... 😉
Next