Reported 9 months ago
During a legislative session, Kuomintang party members revealed that Taiwan Power Company suddenly introduced a new plan on June 17 to implement the 'Residential and Commercial Automatic Demand Response' program from July to November this year. During the peak electricity usage period, households would receive discounts of $48 per month on fixed electricity fees and $10 per kilowatt-hour on flexible electricity fees to encourage voluntary power outages. This move was heavily criticized by KMT member Hung Meng-kai, who questioned if this was truly a power shortage or just a cover-up of the facts by the DPP government. He argued that the plan aimed at shifting the focus of demand response to general households highlighted potential inadequacies in Taiwan's energy policy. The plan coincides with the decommissioning of Nuclear Power Plant Three and the high electricity demand during the summer, raising doubts about the necessity of such measures to manage electricity usage. The criticism extended to the perceived low feedback for power conservation efforts, where users would only save an average of $88 and fixed electricity fees would decrease by a mere $48, prompting ridicule from netizens questioning if a monthly payment of $48 to Taiwan Power Company could guarantee uninterrupted electricity supply throughout the summer. This move by the power company also raised concerns about the involvement of general households in power conservation when other alternatives like increasing the share of carbon-free energy sources were available. The criticisms come amid calls for a more transparent explanation from the government regarding Taiwan's actual power supply situation.
Source: YAHOO