Taichung City Government believes that the addition of new power generating units to the power supply can limit the power generation of Taichung Power Plant. In addition to planning the upper limit of the amount of coal used in the air pollution season, Taichung Power Plant is required to use only five power generating units. This has at least three blind spots.

First of all, you can't just count the income. In the past two years, although new power generating units have come up, the reduction of power generation by Taichung Power Plant and Xingda Power Plant due to coal reduction must also be considered.

Secondly, after nearly five years of statistics, Taiwan's electricity consumption continues to grow. In 2014, the electricity consumption was 206 billion kWh, and in 2018 it was 219.1 billion kWh, a substantial increase of 13.1 billion kWh, while Taichung City increased by 5.14 billion kWh, accounting for about 40%.

In 2018, the electricity consumption of Taichung City exceeded 30.8 billion kWh, and it is estimated that the future usage will continue to grow. If the Taichung City Government's coal reduction requirements are followed, the power output of Taichung Power Plant in 2020 will be only 26 billion kWh, which is not enough for the citizens of Taichung City.

Finally, Taiwan Power Company has promised to stop two units of Taichung Power Plant during the air pollution season. If five units are deactivated, the power reserve capacity rate will be reduced from 10% to approximately 4%.

Coal reduction is not the only way to improve air quality. It should be pragmatic and rational to improve air quality while taking into account power supply and environmental protection.