TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Over 20,000 households in four districts of Kaohsiung suddenly suffered a power outage during the middle of the day on Tuesday (July 9). 

Taipower said that at around 12:22 p.m., an incident occurred on Wujia 2nd Road and Zhong'an Road in Fengshan District, leading to a power outage affecting 20,248 households. The outage was limited to Fengshan District, Xiaogang District, Qianzhen District, and Daliao District, and it included 10 high-voltage users such as SKM Park Outlets.

Taipower explained that a contractor's improper wiring during equipment replacement tripped the transformer protective switch at the Guiyang Substation. By 12:31 p.m., Taipower had restored power through an alternate supply.

The state-owned electric power company convened relevant units to review the incident and strengthen supervision. Taipower demanded that personnel improve their risk management capabilities to prevent similar incidents from happening again.

The midday outage led to many residents complaining on social media with comments such as, "Power outage, what’s the reason this time," per TVBS. Taipower is still investigating the detailed cause of the outage.