In a bid to set fair domestic electricity rates, legislators yesterday reached an agreement on a new electricity pricing mechanism, which will cap annual electricity rate increases at 6 percent.
The new pricing scheme will take effect in April at the earliest, with legislators saying that as international crude oil prices are likely to continue to fall, it is expected that electricity rates will fall after consumers receive their June electricity bills, Minister of Economic Affairs John Deng (鄧振中) told a media briefing.
Based on the new pricing scheme, state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) is required to adjust its electricity rates every six months in accordance with the fluctuation of fuel costs, including the prices of crude oil, coal and natural gas, Deng said.
Price increases will be limited to 3 percent every six months, or 6 percent on an annual basis, he said.
“On the other hand, Taipower has to completely reflect the falling costs of power generation in the electricity prices if there are any,” Deng said.
Lawmakers also agreed to a “reasonable” profit margin of between 3 percent and 5 percent for Taipower.
As of last year, Taipower had accumulated NT$193.5 billion (US$613.31 million) in losses, Deng said. To help write off the losses, lawmakers agreed to allow Taipower to enjoy a profit margin of 5 percent at most until the company clears the debt, Deng said.
“After Taipower pays off its accumulated losses, the ‘reasonable’ profit margin will be set at 3 percent,” Deng added.
That reasonable profit margin range would guarantee the company a profit of between NT$10.5 billion and NT$17.4 billion a year, Taipower chairman Hwang Jung-chiou (黃重球) said, citing a company estimate.
Hwang said although the new pricing mechanism begins in April, Taipower would still increase summer electricity rates between June and September.
“The summer electricity price increase has been in force for more than two decades to conserve energy and we will continue with the policy to encourage people to conserve energy,” Hwang said.
Hwang said that the cost of developing renewable energy sources had also been factored into the pricing mechanism.
“Households which use 400 kilowatt-hours per month will pay NT$4 more per month to pay for renewable energy development,” Hwang said. “That said, we are still confident that electricity rates in April will be lower than the current rates due to the decline in global oil prices.”
During the meeting, lawmakers agreed to review the electricity pricing mechanism again in two years.
Separately, lawmakers requested that the Executive Yuan send an amendment to the Electricity Act (電業法) to the legislature for deliberation within six months.
“We will give the proposal to the Cabinet at the beginning of February at the latest,” Deng said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique