With temperatures soaring above 34oC on the first weekend of the month, many people have turned on their home air conditioners to fight the heat, just as Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) announced household summer rates were taking effect.
Taipower said late last month that the summer electricity rate policy would be implemented again this year to reflect the cost of electricity between this month and September.
Under the plan, households using less than 110 kilowatt-hours per month will be charged NT$2.1 per kilowatt-hour, the same as non-summer rates. However, households whose consumption is more than 110 kilowatt-hours per month will be charged at a higher rate, based on four categories.
Households consuming between 110 kilowatt-hours and 330 kilowatt-hours per month will be charged NT$3.02 per kilowatt-hour, while those consuming between 331 and 500 kilowatt-hours; 501 and 700 kilowatt-hours; and more than 701 kilowatt-hours will be charged NT$4.05, NT$4.51 and NT$5.10 per kilowatt-hour respectively.
Last year the average household summer usage was 432 kilowatt-hours per month, for a total cost of NT$1,309, Taipower said. If the cost had been calculated using non-summer rates, the bill would have been NT$1,154, it said.
Taipower is encouraging consumers to save electricity by offering discount rates. Households that reduce their electricity usage by 5 percent compared with last year’s levels will receive a 5 percent discount on their bill.
Those that cut back by between 5 percent and 10 percent will get a 10 percent discount, and those that reduce consumption by more than 10 percent will receive a 20 percent discount.
In addition, households in the top three areas with the highest reductions of energy consumption compared with last year will receive an additional discount of between 5 percent and 15 percent.
The winning areas last year were Pingtung County, the former Kaohsiung City and Nantou County.
Taipower officials said there were several ways households could reduce electricity consumption, such as cutting down on air conditioner use by one hour per day, setting water dispensers to operate just 12 hours a day and turning on one less bulb over a five-hour period per day.
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