A potential one-time increase of up to 20 percent in electricity rates is too high, the Allied Association for Science Park Industries said yesterday, as Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) finalizes its proposed rate hikes.
“Taipower should introduce measured and phased hikes in electricity rates to avoid affecting companies’ customer relationships and operating efficiency,” Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) quoted the association as saying.
Taipower is expected to raise electricity rates across the board next month if they are approved by an electricity price review committee convened by the Ministry of Economic Affairs later this month, local media have reported.
Photo: Screen grab from the Legislative Yuan livestream
Residential and industrial electricity users are divided into tiers, with the rate adjustments varying, the reports said.
Some reports said industrial consumers are likely to see the largest rate hike of 15 to 20 percent, while others said heavy users would face even bigger bills, such as semiconductor manufacturers and data center operators that operate around-the-clock.
Taiwan’s electricity prices are relatively cheap compared with many other countries and there is room for price increases, the association said.
However, apart from increasing rates, Taipower must also improve the electricity infrastructure to ensure the quality and resilience of power supply, the group said.
The state utility raised electricity rates for industrial users by 15 percent in July 2022 and increased them again by 17 percent in April last year.
The exact scope of price increases this time would depend on the government’s subsidy plans for Taipower, Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) told lawmakers at a meeting of the legislature's Economics Committee yesterday, adding that the Cabinet is still working on the subsidy budget for Taipower.
Taipower is seeking a capital increase of NT$100.1 billion (US$3.18 billion) by issuing new shares and a government subsidy of up to NT$150 billion to keep it afloat, after it posted accumulated losses of NT$382.6 billion as of the end of last year, compared with its paid-in capital of NT$479.9 billion.
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