An investigation report submitted by Control Yuan members has urged that Taipower perform self-reviews of power supply resilience and the speed of power restoration. In response to the report, a Taipower spokesperson stated that the company will perform a humble self-review while continuing to make improvements and working hard to provide customers with a stable electricity supply. The spokesperson also pointed out that, in response to growing domestic demand for electricity, Taipower in recent years has been carrying out work such as building additional substations, replacing old distribution lines, and strengthening the distribution system, all aimed at enhancing the electrical grid's resilience. Outages have shown a distinct decline in recent years. In 2024, national power distribution incidents resulting in outages were reduced by more than 13,000 as compared to 2012, a reduction of 65%. This shows that power distribution system stability has had a significant increase. In the future, Taipower will continue working hard to make further improvements.
The spokesperson further noted that Taipower has also implemented undergrounding of power cables in response to disaster response requirements. This will lower impacts on the power supply from natural disasters. Cable undergrounding has the advantages of enhancing power supply capacity, decreasing outages as a result of disasters, reducing cable contact with foreign objects, and increasing anti-disaster resilience. However, the cost of laying underground cable is approximately 8–12 times that of aerial cables. In addition, the competent authorities for roads have required recessed manhole covers. This has increased the difficulty in performing inspections and repairs at fault points, with the average time for power restoration vs. non-recessed locations going up by 3.5 hours. As a result, power cable undergrounding will continue to require careful deliberation regarding the scale of implementation. In addition, undergrounding requires conforming with local planning and public support. With construction costs high, it is at present impossible to provide power cable undergrounding works at large scale.
The Taipower spokesperson explained that, with automated feeder lines that have functions to rapidly detect and diagnose fault zones, the time for power restoration goes from the pre-automated time of about 1 hour to 5 minutes or less. When there are 1.5 or more automatic switches on a Taipower feeder line in the initial construction phase, the feeder line is considered automated. In order to further reduce power restoration times, and in order to make sure that grid improvement efficiency strengthens implementation of smart grid construction, Taipower is currently installing 3.6 such switches per feeder line. The 5-minute power restoration rate has gone from 17% in 2019 to 73.51% in September this year (2025), meaning that the effects of outages are limited far more rapidly than before.
The Taipower spokesperson stated that as regional economies develop and the people thrive and prosper, electrical demand also increases. Substations have become required power facilities in power usage hubs; but in terms of local ambiance, they are often considered ""not-in-my-backyard" facilities. This makes it difficult to implement new planning projects. In order to lower local concerns and pay equal attention to aesthetics and the public interest, Taipower has in recent years used design, communication, and education to implement improvements. These have included bringing substations indoors and putting cables underground, while also integrating multi-purpose public spaces and green environments. Holding small-scale communication sessions and large talks with local communities has also created spaces for neighborly relations. And Taipower has used scientific data to resolve citizens' concerns. One example is using third-party scientific testing and open information to show the safety statistics for electromagnetic fields, which has helped break down doubts held by member of the public.
Electrical facility construction is vital to stable development for people's lives and industry. Taipower is continuing to strengthen local communication, resolve concerns for citizens, and use open, transparent information and systems to help society at large better understand the importance and necessity of upgrading the electrical grid. Taipower also hopes to receive support and assistance from all sectors of society as we work together to enhance power stability and provide a rock-solid foundation for regional prosperity and long-term development.
Spokesperson: Vice President Tsai Chih-Meng
Phone: (02) 2366-6271/0958-749-333
Email: u910707@taipower.com.tw
Contact Person: Department of Power Distribution Director Jao Yu-Chen
Phone: (02)2366-6650/0922-483-804
Email: u149447@taipower.com.tw