Taipei, Aug. 16 (CNA) Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) said Wednesday that the 4.38 million households in Taiwan that suffered a sudden power outage on Tuesday will see a compensatory reduction in their electricity bill, which will total some NT$270 million (US$8.9 million) nationwide.

One day's electricity charge will be cut from each household bill, in compensation for the accidental power outage that occurred in 17 cities and counties across the country at 4:51 p.m. Tuesday, Taipower said.

The blackout was caused by a shutdown of all six generators at the gas-powered Tatan Power Plant in Taoyuan when a contract worker inadvertently shut off a gas supply valve for two minutes.

This occurred after an accident at Heping Power Plant in Hualien earlier in the day, which caused the country's electricity supply to drop by 650,000 kilowatts.

The power supply did not return to normal until 9:40 p.m. that day. Taipower said its goodwill compensation to consumers will cost it NT$270 million in revenue loss.

(By Huang Li-yun and S.C. Chang)
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