The cost of electricity is set to decline an average of 7.34 percent, or NT$0.22 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), as rates are adjusted to reflect falling global crude oil prices, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
Beginning next month, electricity rates for households will drop 7.55 percent on average, those for commercial users by an average of 7.36 percent and those for industrial users by an average of 7.31 percent, the ministry said.
“Households that use 330kWh per month would see electricity charges reduced by NT$82 per month,” Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) told a press conference after an electricity price review committee meeting.
About 4 million households in Taiwan use 330kWh per month, Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) statistics show.
Under the new pricing plan, households that use less than 120kWh per month would see bills reduced by 10 percent, Shen said.
Small business operators that use less than 330kWh per month could save NT$219, or 20.3 percent, Shen said, adding that a higher discount for small business users could help stabilize consumer prices.
Electricity costs will not decline for household users that use more than 1,000 kilowatt-hours per month or commercial users that use more than 1,500 kilowatt-hours per month, he said.
Despite the new pricing plan, Taipower still plans to implement summer electricity price hikes between June and September aimed at encouraging energy conservation, meaning electricity prices will drop for only two months between next month and May before heading up again between June and September.
“That said, the summer electricity rates hikes this year will still be 7.34 percent less than last year’s summer rates,” Taipower president Chu Wen-chen (朱文成) told reporters.
For households, the new summer electricity rates would increase between 12.8 percent and 21.21 percent, depending on electricity usage, the ministry said, citing the electricity rate review committee’s conclusion.
The committee would convene another round of meetings in September to decide the electricity rates between October and March next year, Shen said.
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