EPA to Tax PM2.5 Emissions/ Taipower: One More Reason to Hike Electricity Rates
2017/10/17
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EPA to Tax PM2.5 Emissions/ Taipower: One More Reason to Hike Electricity Rates
Source: United Daily News
October 17, 2017
On October 16, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) stated that it would expand taxes on air pollution starting next April, adding that factories emitting fine particulate pollutants, including PM2.5 and PM10, would be required to pay an additional air pollution tax. It was estimated that the country’s tax revenue would increase by NT$ 1.2 billion (US$39.8 million) per year. Lin Te-fu (林德福), spokesman of the Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower), said that as a state-owned enterprise, Taipower would abide by the new law, but air pollution taxes were considered as operating costs, so it would be reflected in electricity rates based on a price adjustment formula.
Lin stated that after the EPA put the new air pollution tax into practice, it would add one more reason to hike electricity rates, but since the air pollution tax occupied a small percentage of overall costs, they would not affect electricity price as much as fluctuations in the price of fossil fuels.
Moreover, Lin pointed out that the Taichung Power Plant was the biggest coal-fired power plant in Taiwan. Lin went on to say that “Taipower pays approximately NT$ 300-500 million (US$ 10-16.6 million) air pollution tax a year. Last year, Taipower’s overall operating costs, including the cost of fossil fuels, taxes, and maintenance fees, totaled approximately NT$ 518.9 billion (US$ 17 billion), with the air pollution tax accounting for just one thousandth of the total operating costs.
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