Electricity rates are to remain unchanged at an average of NT$2.6253 per kilowatt-hour over the next six months, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Friday.
The decision came after a meeting of its electricity price review committee on Friday, which considered maintaining stability of electricity prices amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The committee has not adjusted electricity rates since September 2018, making this the longest price freeze on record in Taiwan, ministry data showed.
Photo: CNA
While Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) suggested a slight rate increase of 0.07 percent, the committee decided to keep prices unchanged for the second and third quarters, the ministry said.
“Fuel costs are the main factor affecting electricity rates,” it said in a statement. “Recently, not only have international crude oil prices gradually rebounded, but coal prices have also risen.”
“However, it is still necessary to continue to monitor the containment of COVID-19 globally and the recovery of overall demand before determining whether the increase in fuel prices is a long-term trend,” it added.
The ministry said that the committee had pointed out that an adjustment to the nation’s energy structure would increase the cost of generating electricity, while electricity rates that adequately reflect the adjustment would help promote energy-saving policies.
The committee decided not to adjust the rates because, while the rate hike proposed by Taipower was not large, the administrative work required to enforce the increase could cost more than the 0.07 percent adjustment, Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Tseng Wen-sheng (曾文生) told a news conference.
The committee would consider the effects of an adjustment to the nation’s power-generation structure on electricity rates at its next review meeting in September, when it would set the rates for the last quarter of this year and the first quarter of next year, Tseng said.
There is also no need to raise rates, as Taipower posted its first profit in five years in the first quarter, he said.
Taipower posted a profit of NT$8 billion (US$279.7 million) in the January-to-March period, thanks to lower power-generation costs, Tseng said, adding that the state-run company reported NT$26.1 billion in profit for the whole of last year.
Separately, the problem of a container vessel blocking the Suez Canal would not disrupt the nation’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports, the Bureau of Energy said on Friday.
The bureau said that Taiwan has signed long-term LNG contracts with several countries, including Australia, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Qatar and the US.
As LNG ships from those countries do not pass through the Suez Canal on their way to Taiwan, the incident would not affect the nation’s LNG imports, the bureau said.
“Last year, the nation’s LNG imports came from 13 countries, and the shipping routes from the sources differed,” the bureau said. “In the event of an emergency where imports are blocked, Taiwan can consult other long-term gas sources to procure and dispatch LNG.”
SEEKING CLARITY: Washington should not adopt measures that create uncertainties for ‘existing semiconductor investments,’ TSMC said referring to its US$165 billion in the US Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) told the US that any future tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona. “New import restrictions could jeopardize current US leadership in the competitive technology industry and create uncertainties for many committed semiconductor capital projects in the US, including TSMC Arizona’s significant investment plan in Phoenix,” the chipmaker wrote in a letter to the US Department of Commerce. TSMC issued the warning in response to a solicitation for comments by the department on a possible tariff on semiconductor imports by US President Donald Trump’s
The government has launched a three-pronged strategy to attract local and international talent, aiming to position Taiwan as a new global hub following Nvidia Corp’s announcement that it has chosen Taipei as the site of its Taiwan headquarters. Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday last week announced during his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei that the Nvidia Constellation, the company’s planned Taiwan headquarters, would be located in the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei. Huang’s decision to establish a base in Taiwan is “primarily due to Taiwan’s talent pool and its strength in the semiconductor
An earnings report from semiconductor giant and artificial intelligence (AI) bellwether Nvidia Corp takes center stage for Wall Street this week, as stocks hit a speed bump of worries over US federal deficits driving up Treasury yields. US equities pulled back last week after a torrid rally, as investors turned their attention to tax and spending legislation poised to swell the US government’s US$36 trillion in debt. Long-dated US Treasury yields rose amid the fiscal worries, with the 30-year yield topping 5 percent and hitting its highest level since late 2023. Stocks were dealt another blow on Friday when US President Donald
UNCERTAINTY: Investors remain worried that trade negotiations with Washington could go poorly, given Trump’s inconsistency on tariffs in his second term, experts said The consumer confidence index this month fell for a ninth consecutive month to its lowest level in 13 months, as global trade uncertainties and tariff risks cloud Taiwan’s economic outlook, a survey released yesterday by National Central University found. The biggest decline came from the timing for stock investments, which plunged 11.82 points to 26.82, underscoring bleak investor confidence, it said. “Although the TAIEX reclaimed the 21,000-point mark after the US and China agreed to bury the hatchet for 90 days, investors remain worried that the situation would turn sour later,” said Dachrahn Wu (吳大任), director of the university’s Research Center for
RSS