Taipei, July 31 (CNA) The government has taken a decision to shut down all the air conditioners in its offices for two hours a day in a bid to conserve electricity in the wake of two storms that damaged the country's power supply over the weekend, the Cabinet said Monday.
Typhoon Nesat and Tropical Storm Haitang brought down a transmission tower, operated by the independent power producer Ho-Ping Power Co. in Hualien County, which has reduced supply by 1.3 million kilowatts (kW), said Cabinet spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung.
In an effort to conserve power over the next two weeks while the tower is being repaired, the air conditioners in all government buildings will be turned off from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. each workday, Hsu said.
During the two-hour period, fans will be used in government offices, including the Executive Yuan, he said.
Meanwhile, at a meeting held to discuss various contingency plans for the power shortage, Economics Minister Lee Chih-kung said the wider public should also be encouraged to conserve power during the two-week period.
On the question of restarting the reactors at two of the country's nuclear power plants that are currently under maintenance, Lee said there were no immediate plans to do so.
The two storms hit Taiwan directly on Saturday and Sunday, causing widespread infrastructure damage and agricultural losses.
