On the 27th, the "Electricity Price Review Committee", the economic department of the Democratic Progressive Party, made a decision on the electricity price increase plan, but it caused public complaints. Not only are industrial users wailing, but tourist hotels, which are regarded as the "first row" of the tsunami hit by the new crown epidemic, are not included in the list of frozen price hikes. The industry rebounded strongly, fearing another wave of closures. In addition, the electricity consumption of schools below high school in Taiwan has risen sharply, and the electricity consumption of schools above universities has increased by 15% compared with the large electricity consumers. This also makes universities jump, thinking that the practice is unfair.
On the 27th, the "Electricity Price Review Committee" decided to increase the electricity price by an average of 8.4%. The six major livelihood businesses such as cinemas, gyms, department stores, catering, food, and agriculture and fisheries will not be adjusted in consideration of the impact of the epidemic, but the tourist hotel industry is not included. The Taiwan General Chamber of Commerce suggested that electricity prices for international tourist hotels should not be raised, but the government did not adopt it. The Taiwan Tourist Hotel Association criticized yesterday (28th) that the disaster hit by the epidemic has not yet passed, and it has not yet revived, and it will face rising electricity prices. According to calculations, the electricity price in summer plus the electricity price increase in July will greatly increase the cost by one-third, and many tourist hotel operators will not be able to survive, and may trigger another wave of closures at that time.
Xiao Jingtian , chairman of the Tourist Hotel Industry Association, said in an interview that the increase in electricity prices has extended to international tourist hotels, which will make things worse for the industry. (Based on the number of rooms in each hotel), now we still have to rely on official subsidies. It was originally planned to subsidize 1,300 yuan (NT$, the same below) for a room on July 15, but the "Tourism Bureau" only has a budget of more than 5 billion, which is actually not much for the tourist hotels in Taiwan. It all depends on subsidies, and the electricity price will be raised first on July 1. This is really ridiculous and outrageous. Such a policy is very rough.
Xiao Jingtian pointed out that the vast majority of tourist hotels applied to banks for bailout loans one or two years ago, and this year they have to repay the principal plus interest, and their operating costs have increased after the interest rate hike. But I didn't expect that the epidemic will not end this year, but the principal will start to be repaid. Many business owners are crying, it is really miserable. The hotel's expenses are so large, and the guests have not come in. The electricity price has been raised sharply in July. Is it tantamount to going bankrupt or something? This price adjustment is very unreasonable.
Xiao Jingtian believes that the electricity price increase this time has not been considered very carefully. Why can the catering industry freeze the increase, but the tourist hotel industry has to increase it? In particular, there must be two restaurants in a tourist hotel, including Chinese food and Western food. Isn’t this considered a catering industry? So is the buffet! However, according to the determination, the restaurants in tourist hotels are all included in the hotel, so the electricity price is calculated from the hotel industry.
Has the operator of the tourist hotel lodged a complaint with the DPP authorities? Xiao Jingtian pointed out that of course the industry can go, but no one will be able to see the official arrangement. It's not a question of whether to go or not, but a question of whether the DPP authorities want to meet the practitioners. The Tourist Hotel Association had no choice but to send a letter to the administrative agency and the transportation department, hoping that there would be room for change.
In addition, electricity bills have been raised across Taiwan since July, but the DPP authorities have “frozenly increased” the electricity consumption of schools below high school, but for schools above universities, they are compared with large electricity consumers. This has also caused public and private universities including National Taiwan University. Qi rebounded, thinking that this act was unfair. He Mingguo, president of Taiwan's Tatung University and chairman of the Association for the Advancement of Private Universities, said yesterday that the various associations have reported this to the education authorities.
National University of Taiwan also pointed out yesterday that the composition of the university, whether it is teaching and research personnel, administrative personnel, or students, is from the general public. From the perspective of overall electricity consumption, it is considered a "big household", but the purpose is to teach and research, thereby enhancing Taiwan's overall competitiveness. The nature is completely different from other "big electricity consumers" such as manufacturers or profit-making units. If electricity price increases don't apply to schools below high school, they shouldn't apply to colleges either.
Some universities also mentioned that electricity consumption has soared, which has impacted student accommodation fees. Cultural University mentioned that after the electricity price increase, the electricity fee for public areas will still be absorbed by the school, and the air-conditioning in the dormitory, which is the only burden for students, will be charged by the air-conditioning card plug-in card. Whether the price will increase in the future will be discussed again. (Lin Jingxian/Editor)