A trial program is to limit air-conditioning at more than 1,300 establishments, where temperatures at meal times are to remain above 23°C, the Bureau of Energy said yesterday.
The trial would run until 2025 and complement regulations that since 2014 limit air-conditioning at 20 categories of establishments, with temperatures above 26°C, in a bid to reduce energy consumption in summer, the bureau said.
However, the regulations exempted restaurants and food courts in department stores from 7am to 9am, from 11am to 2pm and from 6pm to 9pm, it added.
Photo: Chang Hsuan-tse, Taipei Times
Operators that cool down their establishments to below 26°C face fines of NT$20,000 to NT$100,000 under the regulations, with repeat offenders facing higher fines.
However, fines imposed in the past few years showed there was “room for improvement,” a bureau official said yesterday.
The trial program would advise operators to cool down their facilities to about 23°C during meal times, the official said, adding that 1°C above or below the recommended temperature would also be accepted.
Bureau officials urged business owners to participate in the trial, saying that the agency would collect feedback from the public to ensure that people do not feel uncomfortable while dining in.
The trial would not impose additional fines, they added.
Some chain restaurant owners welcomed the announcement, saying that their target temperature has been 23°C to 24°C since higher food prices and electricity rates began affecting their business.
A chain restaurant public relations agent surnamed Chen (陳) said that restaurants inside malls cannot independently regulate their temperature, as they depend on the malls’ central air-condition systems.
However, the restaurants would try to comply with any new regulations, Chen said.
The bureau said that conference halls, previously unregulated, would also have to keep their temperature above 26°C.
The Taiwan External Trade Development Council, which manages the Taipei World Trade Center and the Taipei International Convention center, said it ensures that air-conditioners are set at “appropriate” temperatures to prevent excessive power use.
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
Democracies must remain united in the face of a shifting geopolitical landscape, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday, while emphasizing the importance of Taiwan’s security to the world. “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism,” Tsai said at the annual forum in the Danish capital. Noting a “new geopolitical landscape” in which global trade and security face “uncertainty and unpredictability,” Tsai said that democracies must remain united and be more committed to building up resilience together in the face of challenges. Resilience “allows us to absorb shocks, adapt under
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said it is building nine new advanced wafer manufacturing and packaging factories this year, accelerating its expansion amid strong demand for high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The chipmaker built on average five factories per year from 2021 to last year and three from 2017 to 2020, TSMC vice president of advanced technology and mask engineering T.S. Chang (張宗生) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “We are quickening our pace even faster in 2025. We plan to build nine new factories, including eight wafer fabrication plants and one advanced
RSS