News
Electricity rate hike mulled as daily power consumption hits record high
The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) says it will review electricity rates next Monday. The announcement comes amid speculation the ministry's electricity rate review committee could hike prices by some 8% for heavy users.
The semi-annual review of electricity rates was postponed from 29 March. Reports saythe ministry opted to delay that meeting on the back of volatile global fuel prices due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and increasing concerns over inflation.
According to the economics ministry, the review committee will be taking into consideration the advice of experts before making any final decision on possible electricity rate hikes. The committee has kept the current rates unchanged since April of 2018.
This comes as Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) says electricity consumption hit just over 39.2 gigawatts at 14:19 on Wednesday. That surpassed the record set some 11 months ago and marked the third consecutive day of record peak electricity usage so far this month.
Taipower says the increased load on the national grid this week has been mainly driven by growing business activity. The state power generator says the use of ultrahigh levels of electricity by semiconductor manufacturers, electronic component and basic metals industries has increased by 10% compared to last year.
Taipower also says that hot weather and people working and studying from home due to the coronavirus pandemic also contributed to Wednesday's record high usage level.
The company's operating reserve margin stood at just over 7.5% yesterday - lower than an operating reserve of 8% which indicates an adequate supply of electricity.
