The Legislative Yuan’s Economics Committee yesterday passed a preliminary review of an amendment to the Electricity Act (電業法) that aims to accelerate the development of the “renewable energy” industry and liberalize the electricity industry.
“This is a big step. We hope to complete [passing] the legislation before the [legislature’s] Lunar New Year holiday begins on Jan. 18,” said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲), convener of the committee.
It was the first time in 50 years that an amendment to the act has received preliminary approval.
Previous governments have submitted seven amendments to the act to the legislature in the past decades and none of them passed an initial review by the Economics Committee.
When President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took office in May, she said her administration planned to completely liberalize the electricity industry to pave the way for “green” energy development and achieve a nuclear-free nation by 2025.
The original amendment proposed splitting 70-year-old state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) in two and allowing private companies to enter the electricity market, but after four months of protests by the Taipower labor union, which has 700,000 members, the final draft proposed by the Executive Yuan reduced the scale of the reform, allowing only renewable energy companies to enter the market in the first phase, while non-renewable energy firms would still not be permitted to directly sell electricity to users and compete with Taipower.
Kuan said it was a pity that the government could not fully liberalize the industry once and for all.
Even so, the amendment would still help the nation develop a “green” energy industry and provide stable electricity supplies to users, she said.
If the legislature passes the amendment, renewable energy companies would be able to directly sell power to users via Taipower’s distribution network or their own network.
The amendment stipulates that Taipower is to be separated into two firms — an electricity generation firm and a distribution company — between six and nine years after the amendment takes effect.
Taipower could establish a holding company to manage the two firms, the amendment says.
Committee members reached consensus on 92 of the 96 articles in the amendment, with the other four articles pending cross-caucus negotiations within the next 30 days.
The articles needing further discussion include the details of how and when to form a regulatory agency to oversee the electricity industry and set a deadline for removing nuclear waste from Orchid Island (蘭嶼, also known as Lanyu).
Whether to give discounted electricity rates to households that have children under 12 years old, in an attempt to boost the birthrate, is also to be discussed.
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