No plans to ration electricity: Cabinet

Taipei, Aug. 7 (CNA) The government has no plans to implement electricity rationing, despite a tight power supply, an official said Monday.

The country's power supply flashed a red light Monday afternoon -- which signals operating reserve margins of below 900,000 kilowatts (about 2.4 percent of the total) -- after temperatures in Taipei hit 38.5 degrees Celsius.

According to Cabinet spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇), a red light merely represents a low operating reserve margin, and the government has judged that the electricity supply is still within a tolerable range.

He explained that the power supply is somewhat tight mainly because a transmission tower operated by the independent power producer Ho-Ping Power Co. (和平電力) in Hualien County collapsed during Typhoon Nesat on July 29.

Once the tower is repaired next week, operating reserve margins of the country's power supply will return to safe levels, he said.