Hacker News Reader

Comment by 4ndrewl | Hacker News Reader

That's not how the international energy market works. You still have to buy your own, locally produced energy at international rates.

The huge energy price spikes are down to wars in Ukraine (gas, which is also used for electricity production) and the Middle East.

View on HN

Taiwan and perhaps other Asian countries that successfully make stuff don't expose their industries to this, the government sets a fixed energy price for them rather than leaving them at the whim of speculators.

Typically markets are good at optimizing everything that is priced into the market.

Long term price stability is currently not something that is optimized for.

One way to solve it is of course abandoning the ide of a market economy for power.

Another is to let those industries that need price stability buy that on the futures market.

Sure, but then the taxpayer has to pay for it anyway. https://news.tvbs.com.tw/english/2690584

"TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) announced on Tuesday (Nov. 19 2024) plans to subsidize Taiwan Power Company (台灣電力公司) with NT$100 billion to address rising international fuel costs and stabilize prices"

=> over $3bn USD! This is not a small amount of money.

You are right that Taiwan doesn't. But it has consequences, Taipower is forced to undercharge against market prices, but is backstopped by the government.

At the end of the day, it's a global market, and if you want it 'cheap' someone has to pick up the tab. Either it's taxpayers now, taxpayers in the future or consumers now.

https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2025/03/23/2...

I agree that the government should ensure low energy prices for industry, but Taiwan is a remarkably poor example.

Taiwan's energy policy is, as far as I know, the most pants-on-head stupid of any country in the world. As anyone knows, they are a small island at constant risk of a sea blockade and yet rely on sea imports for 98% of their energy. Not only that, but they _had_ more domestic production (nuclear) that they have been phasing out. Writing giant checks to import yet more oil by sea instead of boosting domestic production is a terrible idea for so many reasons.

Nuclear also relies on sea imports - nuclear fuel still needs to be imported, unless Taiwan has a uranium mine on the island. So nuclear doesn't solve the problem, it just kicks the can down the road.

Easier to stockpile uranium than oil or gas though.

You don't have to, but you make more profit if you do. An energy producer that has the choice to sell energy for a lower price domestically or a higher price internationally will obviously choose the higher price, but you can make laws to make that illegal, if you want to.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com