506 major corporate electricity consumers use 35% of Taiwan's electricity, yet resist installing renewable energy; environmental groups call on them to take responsibility as soon as possible

To implement the national energy transition policy and corporate energy responsibility, the Renewable Energy Development Act was amended in 2019, adding a clause requiring very large electricity consumers to install and use renewable energy, known as the "major electricity consumer clause." The Ministry of Economic Affairs originally defined major electricity consumers as manufacturers using more than 800 KW of electricity, estimated at 5,400 companies, but later, under lobbying pressure from business and industrial groups, and using reasons such as the pandemic and operational difficulties, the threshold was lowered to 5,000 KW, sharply reducing the number of manufacturers required to install renewable energy to 506.

In addition to greatly "pardoning" major electricity consumers from the obligation to bear the energy transition, and due to lobbying pressure from business and industrial groups, the Ministry of Economic Affairs also postponed the originally scheduled implementation deadline from 2025 to 2027. Environmental groups today (the 9th) held a press conference together with lawmakers, calling out, "Major electricity consumers, don't be holdouts!" and urging them to shoulder their social responsibility as soon as possible.

506 major electricity consumers use 35% of Taiwan's electricity, yet resist installing renewable energy

Gao Ruping, chairman of the Taiwan Renewable Energy Promotion Alliance, pointed out that as the concept of corporate social and energy responsibility becomes more widespread, 154 internationally renowned brands including APPLE and Google have joined the RE100 (100% renewable energy) initiative, requiring supply chains to use a certain proportion of green energy, and using corporate purchasing power to increase the willingness of government and civil society to develop renewable energy. This is because global investors have begun to place increasing importance on corporate renewable energy usage ratios, adopting environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) indicators to measure corporate response capacity and examine the impact of climate risk on the assets and liabilities of companies or financing projects.

Gao also criticized that the 506 major electricity consumers in the country using more than 5,000 kw, which account for 35% of Taiwan's electricity use, are going against the trend and continue to resist, repeatedly demanding postponement of implementation, leaving civil society and environmental groups very disappointed with business representatives such as the General Chamber of Commerce and the Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce. As the urgency of climate change draws ever closer, Gao Ruping also sharply retorted: "The weather is so hot, can these major electricity consumers sleep at night?"