Wang Presents Footage as Evidence of Human Error 303立院報告公布影片 還原「人為操作不當」

Controversay surrounding the March 3 nationwide power failure continues in the Legislative Yuan. Opposition lawmakers said Economic Affairs Minister Wang Mei-hua's review report is a "copy and paste"  of  last year's report, as both have no substance but placing blame on front-line workers. They demand Wang step down to take responsibility.

More than ten KMT legislators occupied the legislative podium during an Economic Committee meeting to boycott the proceedings, asking Economic Affairs Minister Wang Mei-hua to take full responsibility for the nationwide power failure on March 3 and step down from her position.

Tseng Ming-chung, Legislator (KMT): “This report is copied from somewhere! Higher officials need Taipower employees as scapegoats. We call for Minister Wang to resign!”

Wang did not react to the sea of protest and firmly stepped up to the podium to give her report. She presented surveillance camera footage dated March 3, showing a maintenance worker on shift switching on the "3541" without having added insulation gas back into switch 3540, causing it to malfunction, as evidence of the human error. Legislator questioned how come the 7-second safeguard mechanism, which would help to trip the circuit breaker when the plant's relay detects a fault, did not work properly.

Kao Hung-an, Legislator (TPP): “Switch "3541" is an older circuit breaker, and it usually takes about 7 seconds for it to send out the full signal. Usually, the plant's relay would turn the circuit breaker off after 5 seconds if it detects a fault. How did the improperly functioning relay pass inspections?”

Tseng Wen-sheng, Acting Chairperson, Taipower: “We checked all the power plants equipped with this certain model of relays, including Hsinta and Tunghsiao, and Tashan. We will make sure they are all functioning properly by next Monday.”
 
Wang explained that they have made plans to strengthen the resilience of Taiwan's power grid by increasing distributed generation resources. She also pointed out the national budget for power grid improvement has been decreasing yearly. 

Chen Ting-fei, Legislator (DPP): “How can the government cut the budget for power grid enhancement just because Taipower is losing money?”
Wang Mei-hua, Minister, MOEA: “We do see a decrease in the budget for power grid enhancement over the years. The rest of the government is also on the same page with us now that we should spend more money on this since stable generation and supply of electricity is very important.”
 
Besides working towards building up a distribution system for the power grid, Wang said she will also fight for more recruitment budgets for Taipower Company.   

十幾位國民黨立委，舉著抗議標語，霸佔立院經濟委員會質詢台，要求王美花，應該為303大停電，下台負責。

國民黨立委曾銘宗說:「這報告抄來的，全部的責任推給基層同仁，找一些替死鬼，我們要王部長下台。」

對於在野黨排山倒海的下台聲浪，王美花並未回應，而是選擇上台報告，並公布3月3日當天，興達電廠值班維護人員，測試隔離開關3541，監視錄影畫面，證實是人為操作不當引發。不過立委質疑，隔離開關3541，有7秒保護機制，卻沒發揮功效，質疑當時設備驗收有瑕疵。

民眾黨立委高虹安質詢時表示:「3541這個舊式馬達開啟、操作時間大概7秒，可是這有保護機制，它是持續5秒後，可能就自動閉鎖保護電驛功能，為什麼當初會這樣子去設計、驗收？」

台電代理董事長曾文生回應:「有這樣狀況的匹配電廠已全部盤點，包括興達電廠、舊的通霄開關站，以及金門塔山電廠，都會在下禮拜一前把全部東西都改完。」

王美花表示，這次303大停電事故，反映出電網韌性及分散式電網發的重要性。坦承台電電網建設經費，逐年大幅下降。

民進黨立委陳亭妃說:「怎麼可以用所謂台電它的虧損，然後在每年去減少電網大工程的建構。」

王美花指出:「已發現電網建設的經費，確實逐年大幅在下降，府院也同意應該要用國家資源，因為這涉及到非常重要快速且穩定的供電。」

另外，針對台電人力晉用，一度受到凍結，王美花坦言表示，也將爭取預算，藉由這次事件，除了建構分散式電網，也會補足並強化台電人力。