A government-convened price review committee could approve Taiwan Power Co’s (Taipower) plan to increase electricity rates tomorrow, sources say.
The committee is set to meet tomorrow to decide next month’s electricity rate adjustments, although sources said that they could increase rates after a “buffer period.”
It has been reported that there could be three scenarios regarding electricity rates.
Photo: Taipei Times file photo
The first is an average rate increase of six percent; the second, a rate increase of under six percent to limit the effect on households; and the third, an increase that does not go into effect until July to give the Legislative Yuan time to decide on whether to provide the company with subsidies.
At a news conference today, Cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said the question of electricity rates is subject to discussion by the price review committee.
The Executive Yuan proposed a NT$100-billion (US$3.02 billion) subsidy for Taipower on two separate occasions, last year May as well as this January.
The first proposed subsidy passed its preliminary review but is pending legislative approval, while the second proposal, included as part of the 2025 central government budget, was completely rejected by the Legislative Yuan.
The six- to eight-percent rate increase estimates all come from people outside the company, Taipower chairman Tseng Wen-sheng (曾文生) said.
The estimated rate increase does align with Taipower’s revenue and losses, Tseng added.
Adjusting electricity rates for households and industrial customers have different impacts on inflation, as the former directly increases the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a measure of inflation, while the latter is an indirect effect, Tseng said.
Keeping electricity rates below cost is unsustainable and slows progress on developing green energy solutions, the Taiwan Climate Action Network said, proposing three measures to alleviate the impact on the public.
Their proposed measures are implementing higher rate increases for heavy users, allocating tax revenue for energy-saving initiatives and slowing the rate increases to raise energy prices while not increasing the burden on households.
Additional reporting by Chen Chia-i
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