Taiwan Water Corp (Taiwater, 台灣自來水) yesterday said it has canceled a plan to propose a rate hike to the Ministry of Economic Affairs before the end of this month, adding that it would not propose a hike next year either.
“It is definite that we will not adjust water prices this year and next year. We will focus on improving our operational efficiency,” Taiwater spokesman Wu Ching-wen (武經文) said.
Wu’s announcement was an about face for the state-run utility.
Taiwater chairman Kuo Chun-ming (郭俊銘) said several times this year that the company was drafting a proposal to increase the rates for the dry season, which is between November and April next year.
Kuo told an Aug. 9 news conference that Taiwan’s water prices had not been changed for more than 23 years and that a rate hike would not only promote conservation during the dry season, but it would also provide the utility with the funds to replace old pipelines and fix leaks.
Wu said Taiwater has the money to support its plan to replace pipelines nationwide, but otherwise refused to comment on the price hike U-turn.
The company posted a pretax income of NT$1.04 billion (US$34.51 million) last year.
In the first eight months of this year, its pretax income totaled NT$960 million, according to the company’s Web site.
A high-ranking source in the ministry, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Taipei Times that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) had talked with Kuo, a former DPP lawmaker, and persuaded him not to raise water prices, given that the company has been profitable for so many years.
“It is hard for the government to convince the public of the need to raise water prices when the company is making money,” the source said by telephone.
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