State-owned Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) yesterday said it would recommend raising residential electricity rates for the first time in 20 years to a government-convened price review committee.
Those who use up to 330 kilowatt-hours (kWh) a month should expect to see their rates rise after a price review this month, Taipower spokesman Tsai Chih-meng (蔡志孟) said on the sidelines of an event in Taipei.
The review committee consists of representatives from government agencies — including the Ministry of Economic Affairs, which oversees the state-owned utility — as well as industrial and commercial groups, and academics.
Photo: CNA
Under the Electricity Act (電業法), the price is reviewed twice a year by the committee and the adjusted price is introduced in April and October.
The residential electricity rate for monthly consumption under 330kWh has not been changed since 2004, Tsai said, adding that the rate for the first 120kWh per month was even lowered from NT$2.1 per kilowatt-hour to the current NT$1.63 in 2015.
“This does not reflect the [power generation] cost and should be adjusted,” Tsai said, adding that Taipower is to provide its calculations to the committee.
The industrial electricity price, which now averages NT$3.38 per kilowatt-hour, is also set to rise, he said.
The ministry raised power rates for industrial consumers by 15 percent in July 2022 and increased them again by 17 percent in April last year.
“If the power-generating cost is increasing as a whole, we need to be fair and all power users have to pay accordingly,” Tsai said.
Asked how much the rates are expected to be raised, Tsai said it would be left for the review committee to determine, and “the committee has always taken into account all the relevant factors such as how it might affect [the nation’s] productivity and the consumer price index.”
The potential price hikes come as Taipower posted NT$382.6 billion (US$12.12 billion) in accumulated losses as of the end of last year, compared with its paid-in capital of NT$479.9 billion.
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