Public opinion points to Taiwan Power's serious losses as being caused by two wrong policies

　　China News Service, Taipei, January 30 (Xinhua) Taiwan Electric Power Company (Taipower) recently released its 2023 revenue report, which showed that after attempts such as capital increases, subsidies, and electricity price increases, the company still suffered a loss of NT$198.5 billion (NT$198.5 billion) last year. , the same below), the cumulative losses over the years were 382.6 billion yuan. The island's "Wind Media" published a commentary article pointing out that the Democratic Progressive Party authorities have to pay for the wrong energy policy and "frozen increase" policy.

　　According to reports from Taiwanese media such as Central News Agency and China Times News, Taipower stated that its high losses in 2023 are mainly due to soaring global fuel prices. However, Taiwanese media did not buy this explanation.

　　The "China Times" editorial pointed out that Taipower blamed the Russia-Ukraine conflict for the surge in costs, but covered up the high cost of purchasing photovoltaic and wind power. There is no need to be held accountable for the increase in fuel costs, but unreasonable energy policies are a "man-made disaster" and the truth must be investigated and responsibilities must be clarified. Liang Qiyuan, an energy expert and chair professor at Taiwan's National Central University, also said that the Democratic Progressive Party authorities are pushing for the energy policy of "abolition of nuclear power generation" and strive to build a "non-nuclear homeland" by 2025. Taipower's huge losses are due to this unreasonable policy. cost.

　　There are growing calls from all walks of life in Taiwan for the Democratic Progressive Party authorities to adjust their energy policies. Xu Shubo, chairman of the Taiwan Chamber of Commerce, said that more than 90% of the island's energy depends on imports, and international raw material prices have risen in recent years. He hopes that the new ruling team will adjust energy policies, stabilize base load power, and avoid bringing down Taipower.

　　In addition to criticism of the energy policy, public opinion also points to the "frozen increase" policy, which means that no matter how the cost rises, electricity prices are controlled at a low level by administrative means by the DPP authorities to maintain the superficially "good-looking" inflation data.

　　Also suffering from the "frozen increase" policy is another large public enterprise that has been losing money for a long time - Taiwan's PetroChina. Its pre-tax loss in 2023 was 18 billion yuan, and it has been losing money for four consecutive years. Li Shunqin, chairman of the company, once said that Taiwan PetroChina's "policy burden" in 2023 will be 80.5 billion yuan.

　　"Feng Media" pointed out in a commentary article that "frozen increases" destroy the price mechanism, are costly and unsustainable. It seems that the public is enjoying low electricity prices, but the biggest beneficiaries are businesses and other large electricity consumers. In the end, taxpayers’ money has to be used to make up for Taipower’s shortfall, which actually exacerbates the gap between rich and poor.

　　"United Daily News" also stated in the article "Whether water and electricity prices rise or not should not become a tool for politicians to please specific targets" that whether the prices of water and electricity and other basic livelihood security elements should rise should be determined by professional mechanisms. Rising costs should be reflected in prices, rather than rising sharply without buffering due to high debt levels just because of the political party's reputation.

　　According to Taiwanese media reports, the economic affairs department of the Democratic Progressive Party authorities said that it will continue to invest 100 billion yuan in Taipower this year to help it meet its urgent needs. Taiwan's "China Times" published an editorial saying that Taipower has become a super financial black hole, and the huge hole of losses seems to never be filled. Many Taiwanese scholars pointed out that electricity price increases are inevitable, and Liang Qiyuan predicts that the increase will reach 10% this year. (over)