Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) yesterday said that it would contest a NT$20 million (US$703,556) fine imposed by the Taichung City Government for restarting the Taichung Power Plant’s third coal-fired generator without obtaining its approval.
The city government has no grounds to issue the fine, the state-run utility said in a news release.
“Restarting the third coal-fired generator is completely legal, and its usage because of high electricity demand is completely within reason,” Taipower manager Chang Ting-shu (張廷抒) said.
Photo: Su Ching-feng, Taipei Times
“The city government’s attempt to issue such a fine is a waste of social and legal resources,” Chang added.
The Taichung City Government said that it fined Taipower for contravening the Air Pollution Control Act (空氣污染防制法), as it had already revoked the license for the generator.
“The Taichung City Government has overreached and twisted the law,” the Taipower release said. “They are allowing politics to override professionalism.”
The Environmental Protection Administration called on the Taichung City Government to “stop subverting the normal course of legal action,” and said that it would nullify the city government’s fine.
Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) defended the city’s decision to fine Taipower as “fighting for the health of Taichung residents.”
“Our air pollution level has already reached the orange alert, yet Taipower would exacerbate our air pollution problem by starting the third coal-fired generator. It is regretful and shameful,” Lu said in a statement.
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