Households and businesses with low electricity consumption rates will be given special consideration when the second phase of the electricity price hike takes effect in October, according to the Executive Yuan.
The government is considering excluding low-consumption households and small businesses from the rate hike, or allowing only a slight increase for them, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Chen Wei-zen (陳威仁) said on Wednesday.
Chen made the remarks after Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) said in an interview on UDN TV on Tuesday that a reasonable rate increase should be implemented, since state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) has kept its rates at a relatively low level that does not reflect its costs.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The government is likely to decide on a slight increase in average power rates, after reviewing the power consumption patterns of residential units, small businesses and industries, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said.
The economy, people’s livelihoods and Taipower’s finances will also be taken into account, the ministry said.
Taipower spokesman Roger Lee (李鴻洲) said the company has not finalized a rate hike plan because it has not been given a clear directive to do so. However, such a plan is expected to be finalized by the end of the month.
Lee said all nine independent producers of electricity — Formosa Plastics Group’s Mailiao Power Corp, Taiwan Cement’s Hoping Power Co and seven private power firms — have agreed to revise their contracts with Taipower to reduce their prices. The move will save Taipower NT$1.54 billion (US$51.4 million) a year, he said.
Taipower has lost NT$35.2 billion in the first seven months of this year, which brought its cumulative losses to NT$228.8 billion.
However, with the higher summer electricity prices, which help limit consumption, Taipower earned NT$600 million in July.
The ministry began a three-phase rate hike plan in June last year. The first phase, which accounted for 40 percent of the total planned increase, took effect that month.
The second phase, which is set for October, will involve raising average electricity prices by 9.64 percent: industry rates will go up by 11.49 percent, commercial rates by 10.04 percent and household rates by 4.57 percent, the ministry said.
According to the ministry’s plan, about two-thirds of households and one-third of small businesses that use less than 330kWh of electricity per month would not be affected by the next price hike.
INFRASTRUCTURE: Work on the second segment, from Kaohsiung to Pingtung, is expected to begin in 2028 and be completed by 2039, the railway bureau said Planned high-speed rail (HSR) extensions would blanket Taiwan proper in four 90-minute commute blocs to facilitate regional economic and livelihood integration, Railway Bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) said in an interview published yesterday. A project to extend the high-speed rail from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝) is the first part of the bureau’s greater plan to expand rail coverage, he told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). The bureau’s long-term plan is to build a loop to circle Taiwan proper that would consist of four sections running from Taipei to Hualien, Hualien to
The Civil Aviation Administration yesterday said that it is considering punishments for China Airlines (CAL) and Starlux Airlines for making hard landings and overworking their cabin crew when the nation was hit by Typhoon Kong-rey in October last year. The civil aviation authority launched an investigation after media reported that many airlines were forced to divert their flights to different airports or go around after failing to land when the typhoon affected the nation on Oct. 30 and 31 last year. The agency reviewed 503 flights dispatched by Taiwanese airlines during those two days, as well as weather data, flight hours
Three people have had their citizenship revoked after authorities confirmed that they hold Chinese ID cards, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said yesterday. Two of the three people were featured in a recent video about Beijing’s “united front” tactics by YouTuber Pa Chiung (八炯) and Taiwanese rapper Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源), including Su Shi-en (蘇士恩), who displayed a Chinese ID card in the video, and taekwondo athlete Lee Tung-hsien (李東憲), who mentioned he had obtained a Chinese ID card in a telephone call with Chen, Liang told the council’s weekly news conference. Lee, who reportedly worked in
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
RSS