An internal report of state-owned Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) showed that the company is seeking government approval to raise electricity rates by almost 6 percent on average to make up for huge losses.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs would next week hold a power rate assessment review meeting to discuss whether Taipower would be allowed to hike electricity rates next month.
The state-run company has shouldered NT$422.9 billion (US$12.82 billion) in accumulated losses.
Photo: CNA
To prevent further losses, the company needs to generate an additional NT$50 billion in revenue this year through electricity rate hikes, Taipower said.
Its report showed that rates for household users and small businesses, which consume less than 330 kilowatt-hours (kWh) a month, would be raised by 11 to 33 percent.
Bills for household users and small businesses that consume more than 330kWh a month would rise no more than 10 percent under a progressive tariff mechanism, the report showed.
Rates for the industrial sector are expected to be raised no more than 5 percent, it said.
The measures would bring average rate hikes to almost 6 percent as a whole, it said.
Taipower considered rate increases after the Legislative Yuan cut the general government budget plan, including two NT$100 billion subsidy projects for the power company, as well as other subsidies that would be added to its construction funds for outlying islands, the utility said.
Earlier this week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said the ministry would account for the rate hikes effects on inflation, adding that the government is determined to keep the local consumer price index (CPI) from rising more than 2 percent, an alert level set by the central bank.
In the first two months of this year, the CPI grew 2.12 percent, while the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics late last month forecast that inflation would reach 1.94 percent this year.
The rate hikes aim to allow the power supplier to sell electricity at a price closer to its costs, the Taipower report said.
Taipower chairman Tseng Wen-sheng (曾文生) had said he hoped the local electricity rate structure would be more reasonable, particularly for smaller households and business users.
If the rate hike plan is approved in the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ power rate review meeting, about 13.6 million households and 910,000 small businesses would be affected, Taipower said.
The rates for industrial users, regardless of whether they are high-voltage users such as contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) or other companies, are expected to rise, it added.
Despite the electricity rate increases, it is unlikely that the company would break even this year, as it has to consider the effect of inflation on household users and the competitiveness of Taiwan’s industries, it said.
FIREPOWER: On top of the torpedoes, the military would procure Kestrel II anti-tank weapons systems to replace aging license-produced M72 LAW launchers Taiwan is to receive US-made Mark 48 torpedoes and training simulators over the next three years, following delays that hampered the navy’s operational readiness, the Ministry of National Defense’s latest budget proposal showed. The navy next year would acquire four training simulator systems for the torpedoes and take receipt of 14 torpedoes in 2027 and 10 torpedoes in 2028, the ministry said in its budget for the next fiscal year. The torpedoes would almost certainly be utilized in the navy’s two upgraded Chien Lung-class submarines and the indigenously developed Hai Kun, should the attack sub successfully reach operational status. US President Donald Trump
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to start construction of its 1.4-nanometer chip manufacturing facilities at the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP, 中部科學園區) as early as October, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported yesterday, citing the park administration. TSMC acquired land for the second phase of the park’s expansion in Taichung in June. Large cement, construction and facility engineering companies in central Taiwan have reportedly been receiving bids for TSMC-related projects, the report said. Supply-chain firms estimated that the business opportunities for engineering, equipment and materials supply, and back-end packaging and testing could reach as high as
ALL QUIET: The Philippine foreign secretary told senators she would not respond to questions about whether Lin Chia-lung was in the country The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday confirmed that a business delegation is visiting the Philippines, but declined to say whether Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) is part of the group, as Philippine lawmakers raised questions over Lin’s reported visit. The group is being led by Deputy Minister of Agriculture Huang Chao-chin (黃昭欽), Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association (CIECA) chairman Joseph Lyu (呂桔誠) and US-Taiwan Business Council (USTBC) vice president Lotta Danielsson, the ministry said in a statement. However, sources speaking on condition of anonymity said that Lin is leading the delegation of 70 people. Filinvest New Clark City Innovation Park
DEFENSIVE EDGE: The liaison officer would work with Taiwan on drones and military applications for other civilian-developed technologies, a source said A Pentagon unit tasked with facilitating the US military’s adoption of new technology is soon to deploy officials to dozens of friendly nations, including Taiwan, the Financial Times reported yesterday. The US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) is to send a representative to collaborate with Taiwan on drones and military applications from the semiconductor industry by the end of the year, the British daily reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “Drones will certainly be a focus, but they will also be looking at connecting to the broader civilian and dual-use ecosystem, including the tech sector,” one source was
RSS