Taiwan's electricity price review committee decided on September 18 to leave power rates unchanged for now and first seek a NT$71.1 billion government subsidy for Taipower through a supplementary budget. The Executive Yuan urged the legislature's party caucuses to review and pass that budget quickly to ease Taipower's operating pressure. The freeze covers October rates and holds the average price at NT$3.7823 per kilowatt-hour, Liberty Times reported.
Why does Taipower need the money? Executive Yuan spokesperson Lee Hui-chih said conflict in the Middle East had driven sharp swings in international fuel prices, and that Taipower had absorbed huge fuel costs to keep prices stable, leaving it under severe financial strain. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Chen Pei-yu said natural gas prices had surged because of the US-Iran war and that Taipower lost NT$21.4 billion in the first seven months of the year, bringing its accumulated losses to NT$372.2 billion, Liberty Times reported. She said Taipower expected fuel costs to rise by about NT$17 billion a month after a September increase in gas prices for power generation, and asked the opposition to back the subsidy saying Taipower could not be asked to absorb costs indefinitely.
What is in the supplementary budget? The Executive Yuan submitted it on September 3 with a dedicated allocation for stabilising livelihoods. It carries NT$607.63 billion in spending across six areas, from social welfare and pay rises to post-disaster reconstruction, defence and a new child growth allowance, including the NT$71.1 billion for the rate freeze, CNA reported. Lee, messaging reporters on the evening of the decision, said the Executive Yuan respected the committee's ruling and called stabilising livelihoods and the economy a duty shared by the governing and opposition parties.
How did the opposition respond? Kuomintang (KMT) caucus secretary-general Hsu Yu-chen addressed media reports that a provisional review meeting before year-end could consider a catch-up increase if the legislature did not back the NT$71.1 billion, Liberty Times reported. If those reports were accurate, she said, this was no longer simply energy pricing but using people's power bills to pressure the legislature, which her caucus called political blackmail. Reviewing every budget is the legislature's constitutional duty, she said, and the executive could not call for a freeze while hinting that rates would rise if the budget failed. She said years of energy policy had raised gas-fired generation's share to 47.7% in 2025, exposing Taipower's costs to swings in gas prices, and that the Executive Yuan owed the public an explanation of those risks.
