Secretary for Economic Development & Labour Stephen Ip says he is confident new agreements with Hong Kong's two power companies will be reached next year.
He told Legislative Councillors today that the stage two consultation on the future development of the electricity market has received over 17,000 written submissions from different community sectors.
The views show general support for the Government's energy policy of maintaining a reliable, safe and efficient electricity supply at reasonable prices while minimising environmental impact. Also there is a general consensus that reliability and the safety of supply are the most important considerations in the future development of the market.
Views on other key issues of concern, like future market development, regulation of tariffs, and environmental impact, are quite diverse.
Given the change in the power market, the public consider the two-digit permitted rates of return for the power companies to be too high. They opined that the rates of return and profits should be lowered.
Noting the Government has proposed reducing the term of the new Scheme of Control Agreements with the power companies to 10 years, Mr Ip hopes all the preparation work for opening up the power market can be finalised before the new agreement expires.
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