TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Ahead of a meeting by the review committee in charge of electricity rates, state utility Taiwan Power Company on Thursday suggested a tripling of the rate for empty homes.

The monthly fee of NT$33.60 (US$1.01) for each of the 1.5 million empty homes in the country is unfair, according to Taipower Chair Tseng Wen-sheng (曾文生). He said he had proposed a hike of NT$100 to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Radio Taiwan International reported.

The review committee meeting scheduled for Friday may discuss rates in general, without deciding on a hike, according to media reports. Factors up for consideration included Taipower’s losses totaling NT$420 billion, NT$100 billion worth of budget cuts passed by the Legislative Yuan, and the potential impact of rate hikes on inflation.

Reports speculated that the committee might approve hikes averaging at least 6% and up to 8% to be implemented in April. Tseng said that Taipower was not recommending the level of a price hike, but only supplying information for the committee to base its decision on.