Executive Yuan spokesperson Sun Lih-chyun (孫立群) yesterday said the government would not only return the excess earnings of state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電 ), but would also start to examine the efficiency of the company’s operations and make public the information about its costs.
The government’s action is to “respond to generational justice and to avoid leaving the problems of this generation to the next,” Sun said.
Taipower said the company expects to generate a surplus of NT$20 billion (US$639 million) this year, adding that of that figure, about NT$9 billion can be considered excess earnings from unexpected declines in global oil and coal prices, and would be given back to the public.
Photo: CNA
Though some of Taipower’s profits have come from lower raw material prices, a Taipower official said the company was benefiting from cost-cutting measures and improved operating efficiency. As of Nov. 30, the company had generated 1.3 billion more kilowatt-hours than during the same period last year, while seeing a decline of NT$3.5 billion in the cost of providing backup power.
Taipower’s expected surplus this year has struck a sensitive nerve because at least part of it came from unpopular increases in electricity prices put in place by President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) government.
The price hikes were deemed necessary to reverse years of losses, but opponents criticized them, fearing they would be inflationary and keep Taipower from engaging in management and organizational reforms.
Following the defeat suffered by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in the Nov. 29 nine-in-one elections, seen as due largely to the unpopularity of Ma and his administration, the new Cabinet to be led by Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) wants to be seen as being responsive to the issue by returning profits considered to be excessive.
One sore point has been the government’s attempt to have the legislature approve a new formula for calculating electricity prices based on raw material inputs before the plan to return money to consumers is put in place.
Mao said on Friday that the two would not be linked.
When answering questions from lawmakers at a legislative meeting on Friday, he said the schedule for returning Taipower windfall profits would not be delayed by the approval of a new formula for calculating electricity prices by the legislature as the government had planned.
“The government will definitely give back the full amount,” Mao said when answering a question by KMT Legislator Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊櫻) about when Taipower could return its windfall profits to the public.
The Economics Committee is set to review the formula next week, and Mao said he has directed Taipower to devise a formula that accurately reflects changes in the costs of its key raw materials.
While the Executive Yuan aims to have the excess profits, earned since January, refunded before the end of the year, officials said the amount to be returned is complicated by the exact calculation, which would not be ready by the end of the year.
Sun yesterday said the return would be carried out “as soon as possible,” but the details, such as the amount to be returned, would have to wait for a report by the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
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