Minister Without Portfolio Chang Jing-sen (張景森) found himself in hot water yesterday after suggesting that department stores and hypermarkets could reduce power consumption during summer by taking a break after lunch.
Chang’s suggestion, which appeared in an interview published yesterday in the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper), drew fire from department store operators, who said it would be difficult to put into practice, because customer traffic usually reach its peak in the afternoon, especially during the summer months.
Chang said in the interview that one of the Executive Yuan’s major tasks in the next one to two years would be to reduce power consumption during peak hours and widen the rate difference for usage during “peak” and “off-peak” hours to encourage people to save energy.
As part of that effort, he suggested encouraging department stores and hypermarkets to adjust their business hours, because customer traffic is at its lowest between 1pm and 3pm.
Other measures will also have to be taken at the same time, he added.
His remarks drew immediate rebukes and even ridicule from businesses and commentators.
Pacific Sogo assistant sales promotion manager Janet Tsao (曹春暉) said that while summer is a peak period for power usage, it is also the time of year when department stores experience some of their heaviest foot traffic.
The department stores’ food courts usually attract huge numbers of customers, particularly in the afternoon during the summer months, Tsao said.
Taipei 101 spokesman Michael Liu (劉家豪) said that people usually visit the landmark skyscraper, which houses a multilevel shopping mall, food court, various restaurants and stores, in the afternoon and it would be difficult for management to adjust its operating hours.
Commentator Ben Jai (翟本喬) said that Chang’s proposal “would have been a good idea 30 years ago.”
Shutting down air-conditioning halfway through the day would not help save energy, because after it is switched on again at 3pm, the system would have to first expel the heat that has accumulated in the meantime, Jai wrote on Facebook.
Chang said yesterday afternoon that what he meant in the interview was that big stores can close some of their floors, such as food courts, to conserve energy.
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