Taipei City's electricity consumption hits a new low, firmly holding the "energy-saving champion" title

(Taiwan Business News) Taipei City's total electricity consumption accounts for about 8.0% of the nation's electricity consumption. By year 102 (2013), total electricity consumption had dropped to 16.16 billion kWh, the lowest in recent years, making it the only one of the six special municipalities with a decline in electricity consumption; of this, non-business electricity consumption for metered lighting was 4.633 billion kWh, a saving of 0.5% compared with year 101 (4.658 billion kWh), which is not only the lowest in recent years but also the only reduction in electricity consumption among the six special municipalities.

Since year 98 (2009), Taipei City pioneered a nationwide energy-saving lottery, using lottery incentives to reward households that conserve electricity well, encouraging residents to reduce consumption on their own, making energy saving and carbon reduction a trend among nearly a million households across the city and fulfilling Taipei City's vision of becoming a green, low-carbon city. Over the years (years 98-102), a total of 98,601 households participated in the lottery, and the participating energy-saving households saved a total of 1.176 billion kWh, equivalent to saving 4.482 billion yuan in electricity bills; the electricity saved could power Taipei 101 for 22.6 years (Taipei 101 consumes about 52 million kWh per year). Considering that residents' energy-saving efforts over the years have reached a certain limit, the Department of Environmental Protection this year (year 103, 2014) also specially lowered the "electricity-saving ratio" threshold for entering the lottery from 5% to 3%, to encourage citizens to keep saving electricity and to broaden participation.

Wu Sheng-chung, Director of Taipei City's Department of Environmental Protection, said that steadily reducing nuclear power and gradually moving toward a nuclear-free homeland is a consensus among all citizens. Facing energy shortages and the arrival of an era of high electricity prices, to balance quality of life and economic development while improving energy efficiency, "use when needed, save when possible" is the only way forward. In addition to the million-household electricity-saving lottery, since year 97 (2008) the city government has rolled out various incentive and guidance measures, such as the Golden Energy-Saving Award, community lighting subsidies and community energy-saving guidance, bringing the promotion of energy saving and carbon reduction from communities into households. The department also hopes to continue working together with all citizens to achieve the goal of reducing energy consumption, which is the only way to reduce dependence on nuclear power.