The "Electricity Price Review Committee" of the economic department of the Democratic Progressive Party government finalized a plan to increase electricity prices on the 27th, but it caused public resentment. Not only are industrial users wailing, but tourist hotels, which are regarded as the "first row" of the tsunami hit by the new coronavirus epidemic, are not included in the frozen increase list. The industry has strongly rebounded, fearing that another wave of business closures will be triggered. In addition, in Taiwan, the electricity consumption of schools below high school has been frozen, while the electricity consumption of schools above university has increased by 15% compared with large electricity consumers. This has also made universities jump in and think that this is unfair.
The "Electricity Price Review Council" decided on the 27th that electricity prices will increase by an average of 8.4%. Six major livelihood businesses, including cinemas, gyms, department stores, catering, food, agriculture and fishery, will not adjust due to the impact of the epidemic, but the tourist hotel industry is not included. The Taiwan Chamber of Commerce and Industry suggested that electricity prices in international tourist hotels should not be increased, but officials did not adopt it. The Taiwan Tourist Hotel Association yesterday (28th) criticized that the disaster hit by the epidemic has not yet passed and has not yet been revived, and it will face rising electricity prices. It has been calculated that the summer electricity price plus the increase in electricity price in July will increase the cost by one-third. Many tourist hotel operators will not be able to survive and may trigger a wave of closures again.
Chairman of the Tourist Hotel Industry Association Xiao Jingtian said in an interview that this electricity price increase has extended to international tourist hotels, which is even worse for the industry. International tourist hotels are mostly business customers. Due to the ongoing epidemic, 90% of business customers have dropped. (Based on the number of rooms in each hotel), now they still have to rely on official subsidies. It was originally scheduled to provide a subsidy of NT$1,300 (NT$, the same below) per room on July 15, but the "Tourism Bureau" only has more than 5 billion in funding, which is actually not much allocated to Taiwan's tourist hotels. They all have to rely on subsidies, but they actually have to increase electricity prices first on July 1st. This is really ridiculous and outrageous. Such a policy is very rough.
Xiao Jingtian pointed out that the vast majority of tourist hotels applied for bailout loans from banks one or two years ago. Starting this year, they have to repay the principal plus interest. After the interest rate hike, operating costs have increased. But I didn’t expect that the epidemic would not be over this year, but the principal would have to be repaid. Many business owners were lamenting and wailing. It was really miserable. The hotel has spent so much money and no customers are coming in. If the electricity price is increased sharply in July, is it going to bankrupt the hotel or what? It is very unreasonable to adjust the electricity price like this.
Xiao Jingtian believes that the electricity price increase this time was not very thoughtful. Why can the catering industry freeze the increase while the tourist hotel industry has to increase it? Especially in tourist hotels, there must be two restaurants, including Chinese food and Western food. Isn't this considered a catering industry? Buffet too! However, it is determined that all restaurants in tourist hotels are included in the hotel, so the electricity price is calculated based on the hotel industry.
Should tourist hotel operators lodge a complaint with the DPP authorities? Xiao Jingtian pointed out that of course business owners can go, but no one can see them without official arrangements. It’s not a question of whether to go or not, but a question of whether the DPP authorities want to meet with the business owners. The Tourist Hotel Association had no choice but to send a letter to the administrative agencies and transportation authorities in the hope that there would be room for change.
In addition, electricity bills across Taiwan have increased since July. However, the Democratic Progressive Party authorities have "frozen increases" in electricity consumption for schools below high school. However, for schools above university, they have been compared with large electricity consumers. This has also caused public and private universities such as National Taiwan University to Qi Yi rebounded and believed that this was unfair. He Mingguo, president of Taiwan's Tatung University and chairman of the Private University Association, said yesterday that major associations have reported it to the education authorities.
National Taiwan University also pointed out yesterday that the university's teaching and research staff, administrative staff, and students all come from the general public. From the perspective of overall electricity consumption, they are considered "big users", 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 do not apply to schools below high school, they should not apply to universities.
Some universities also mentioned that electricity consumption has increased sharply, which will also impact student accommodation fees. Culture University mentioned that after the electricity price increase, the electricity bill for public areas will still be absorbed by the school. The only dormitory air-conditioning that students bear is charged based on the air-conditioning card. Whether the price will increase in the future will be discussed again. (Lin Jingxian/editor)
