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Economics minister defends electricity price hike
Ministry of Economic Affairs Minister Wang Mei-hua is defending the government's decision to hike electricity rates as she faces calls to justify the increases before the Legislative Yuan.
Lawmakers from both the KMT and the Taiwan People's Party have raised the possibility of freezing the economic ministry's budget and requiring legislative approval before electricity prices can be adjusted.
Wang called rate hikes "necessary" to ensure a stable electricity supply from Taipower, since there was a sharp rise in international fuel costs triggered by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
Wang says only "moderate measures" were adopted to allow Taipower to absorb the costs, and the rate hike mainly targets heavy users, which "mitigates the impact on people's livelihoods."
The minister has warned that a failure to implement the rate increases "will greatly impact Taipower's finances and will not be conducive to stable power supplies."
