Tatung University president Chu Wen-chen (朱文成) yesterday became the first outsider to become Taiwan Power Co’s (Taipower, 台電) president in the state-run company’s 60-year history, but he is facing a long list of challenges.
These challenges include the controversial construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao District (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市), losses of NT$193.6 billion (US$6.56 billion) and the rising cost of fuel and electricity.
“Taipower must operate more efficiently to rebuild its broken image,” Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Francis Liang (梁國新) said yesterday at a handover ceremony.
Photo: CNA
“We expect Chu to run Taipower from a new perspective and with a new approach,” Liang said.
Chu replaced Lee Han-shen (李漢申), who retired yesterday.
Chu said he agreed with Lee’s business philosophy that Taipower should operate effectively to achieve sales growth without being hindered by a bureaucratic system.
“Taipower is in the service sector, not the manufacturing sector. Taipower’s duty is to provide satisfactory service to its customers. The company should work to achieve this goal,” Chu said.
Chu said his priority after taking office is to improve communication with the public.
Taipower needs to publicize information about electricity supplies as soon as possible to clarify misunderstandings, he added.
“Taipower has to fix many of the ways its business performs, but it was never as bad as some have claimed,” Chu said.
Asked by reporters for his views on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, Chu said: “Taipower will seek alternative solutions if a referendum shows a majority of people do not want a new nuclear power plant.”
“We don’t mean to threaten the society. The problem is that if the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant does not become operational, everyone will have to suffer an electricity supply constraint, but we are confident we could solve the problem,” Chu said.
Chu said he would demand that Taipower employees do not collude with contractors, adding that if anything illegal is discovered, the company would report the matter to prosecutors immediately.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) secured a record 70.2 percent share of the global foundry business in the second quarter, up from 67.6 percent the previous quarter, and continued widening its lead over second-placed Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said on Monday. TSMC posted US$30.24 billion in sales in the April-to-June period, up 18.5 percent from the previous quarter, driven by major smartphone customers entering their ramp-up cycle and robust demand for artificial intelligence chips, laptops and PCs, which boosted wafer shipments and average selling prices, TrendForce said in a report. Samsung’s sales also grew in the second quarter, up
On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump weighed in on a pressing national issue: The rebranding of a restaurant chain. Last week, Cracker Barrel, a Tennessee company whose nationwide locations lean heavily on a cozy, old-timey aesthetic — “rocking chairs on the porch, a warm fire in the hearth, peg games on the table” — announced it was updating its logo. Uncle Herschel, the man who once appeared next to the letters with a barrel, was gone. It sparked ire on the right, with Donald Trump Jr leading a charge against the rebranding: “WTF is wrong with Cracker Barrel?!” Later, Trump Sr weighed
HEADWINDS: Upfront investment is unavoidable in the merger, but cost savings would materialize over time, TS Financial Holding Co president Welch Lin said TS Financial Holding Co (台新新光金控) said it would take about two years before the benefits of its merger with Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控) become evident, as the group prioritizes the consolidation of its major subsidiaries. “The group’s priority is to complete the consolidation of different subsidiaries,” Welch Lin (林維俊), president of the nation’s fourth-largest financial conglomerate by assets, told reporters during its first earnings briefing since the merger took effect on July 24. The asset management units are scheduled to merge in November, followed by life insurance in January next year and securities operations in April, Lin said. Banking integration,
LOOPHOLES: The move is to end a break that was aiding foreign producers without any similar benefit for US manufacturers, the US Department of Commerce said US President Donald Trump’s administration would make it harder for Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc to ship critical equipment to their chipmaking operations in China, dealing a potential blow to the companies’ production in the world’s largest semiconductor market. The US Department of Commerce in a notice published on Friday said that it was revoking waivers for Samsung and SK Hynix to use US technologies in their Chinese operations. The companies had been operating in China under regulations that allow them to import chipmaking equipment without applying for a new license each time. The move would revise what is known