A government-convened price review committee could approve Taiwan Power Co’s (Taipower) plan to increase electricity rates tomorrow, sources say.
The committee is set to meet tomorrow to decide next month’s electricity rate adjustments, although sources said that they could increase rates after a “buffer period.”
It has been reported that there could be three scenarios regarding electricity rates.
Photo: Taipei Times file photo
The first is an average rate increase of six percent; the second, a rate increase of under six percent to limit the effect on households; and the third, an increase that does not go into effect until July to give the Legislative Yuan time to decide on whether to provide the company with subsidies.
At a news conference today, Cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said the question of electricity rates is subject to discussion by the price review committee.
The Executive Yuan proposed a NT$100-billion (US$3.02 billion) subsidy for Taipower on two separate occasions, last year May as well as this January.
The first proposed subsidy passed its preliminary review but is pending legislative approval, while the second proposal, included as part of the 2025 central government budget, was completely rejected by the Legislative Yuan.
The six- to eight-percent rate increase estimates all come from people outside the company, Taipower chairman Tseng Wen-sheng (曾文生) said.
The estimated rate increase does align with Taipower’s revenue and losses, Tseng added.
Adjusting electricity rates for households and industrial customers have different impacts on inflation, as the former directly increases the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a measure of inflation, while the latter is an indirect effect, Tseng said.
Keeping electricity rates below cost is unsustainable and slows progress on developing green energy solutions, the Taiwan Climate Action Network said, proposing three measures to alleviate the impact on the public.
Their proposed measures are implementing higher rate increases for heavy users, allocating tax revenue for energy-saving initiatives and slowing the rate increases to raise energy prices while not increasing the burden on households.
Additional reporting by Chen Chia-i
The government should improve children’s outdoor spaces and accelerate carbon reduction programs, as the risk of heat-related injury due to high summer temperatures rises each year, Greenpeace told a news conference yesterday. Greenpeace examined summer temperatures in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hsinchu City, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung to determine the effects of high temperatures and climate change on children’s outdoor activities, citing data garnered by China Medical University, which defines a wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) of 29°C or higher as posing the risk of heat-related injury. According to the Central Weather Administration, WBGT, commonly referred to as the heat index, estimates
Taipei and other northern cities are to host air-raid drills from 1:30pm to 2pm tomorrow as part of urban resilience drills held alongside the Han Kuang exercises, Taiwan’s largest annual military exercises. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Yilan County, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to hold the annual Wanan air defense exercise tomorrow, following similar drills held in central and southern Taiwan yesterday and today respectively. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Maokong Gondola are to run as usual, although stations and passenger parking lots would have an “entry only, no exit” policy once air raid sirens sound, Taipei
Taipei placed 14th in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Best Student Cities 2026 list, its highest ever, according to results released yesterday. With an overall score of 89.1, the city climbed 12 places from the previous year, surpassing its previous best ranking of 17th in 2019. Taipei is “one of Asia’s leading higher-education hubs,” with strong employer activity scores and students “enjoying their experience of the city and often keen to stay after graduation,” a QS staff writer said. In addition to Taipei, Hsinchu (71st), Tainan (92nd), Taichung (113th) and Taoyuan (130th) also made QS’ list of the top 150 student cities. Hsinchu showed the
Environmental groups yesterday filed an appeal with the Executive Yuan, seeking to revoke the environmental impact assessment (EIA) conditionally approved in February for the Hsieh-ho Power Plant’s planned fourth liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving station off the coast of Keelung. The appeal was filed jointly by the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group, the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association and the Keelung City Taiwan Head Cultural Association, which together held a news conference outside the Executive Yuan in Taipei. Explaining the reasons for the appeal, Wang Hsing-chih (王醒之) of the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group said that the EIA failed to address
RSS