Dialogue with the public
Hsu Tsao-hua notes that in the past Taipower was Taiwan’s one and only electric power enterprise, and it always communicated with the public by “announcements.” In 2012, when the prices of both electricity and petroleum products increased, Taipower faced its greatest challenge in terms of public trust. “At that time Hwang Jung-chiou had just taken over as chairman, and in his inaugural address he stated that the company needed to make more information public so that people could better understand Taipower.”
Under Hwang’s leadership, Taipower experimented with various approaches to public dialogue. For example, in one corner of a Taipower site beside Wenzhou Park, near NTU, there is a garlic pear tree (Crateva religiosa), now known as the “Taipower spider tree,” which produces beautiful yellow and white blossoms. Ever since it was planted the tree had stood behind the site’s perimeter wall, and was accessible only to company employees. But later, when Taipower implemented a program to create spaces for public art, the company removed the corner section of the wall and put up a metal fence around the tree itself so that local residents could enjoy the beauty of the blossoming tree. “We took down the wall to let local residents into that part of the site, and this attracted many artists to come here and hold activities. The ward chief of Daxue Ward, where the tree is located, has since worked with Taipower to hold annual spider tree arts events to enrich the cultural lives of residents.”
Shortly after Chu Wen-chen succeeded Hwang Jung-chiou as chairman, he received a suggestion from Lin Ping-yen, a retired Taipower staffer, that the company should act to preserve the precious historical information stored in warehouses at its various sites, and Chu went on to launch a cultural heritage preservation program. “Taipower’s history in the electric power industry is a microcosm of Taiwan’s overall economic history, and its importance goes without saying.” Hsu Tsao-hua notes that the work done by Taipower employees in combing through the documentary history and artifacts of the industry, supplemented by an oral history project to enable elders to tell the company’s story, have boosted Taipower’s internal cohesion.
After making a full inventory of its cultural assets, the company decided to first collect historical information on four main themes: the Zhuzaimen power station in Kaohsiung’s Meinong District, the old east–west power transmission line, and the hydroelectric power systems in the Zhuoshui and Dajia river basins. In 2018 Taipower held an exhibition on a century of power industry cultural heritage entitled “Power Infrastructure as Landscape.” In 2019 it put on the exhibition “Just Flow,” exploring the history of hydropower in Taiwan, and in 2020 another exhibition, “Light Up,” displayed more than 200 objects of historical interest. In 2022, the National Taiwan Museum and Taipower jointly curated a show named “Power Up: The Age of Electricity in Taiwan.” Taipower has also published a number of books, including volumes on hydropower in the Zhuoshui and Dajia river basins and the history of the Zhuzaimen power plant, as well as one entitled Traversing the East–West Power Line: An Inside Look at the Century-Old Path, to enable the public to better appreciate Taipower’s “soft assets.”
The “Just Flow” exhibition used artistic design to illustrate the development of hydroelectric power in Taiwan over the past century, and to showcase Taipower’s role in Taiwan’s modernization.
(courtesy of Taipower)
At the “Light Up” exhibition, Taipower displayed more than 200 objects of historical and cultural interest related to the power industry, including the first electricity meter in all of Taiwan from the era of Japanese rule (1895–1945). The event garnered a lot of attention. (courtesy of Taipower)
More than 40 years ago Taipower employees inadvertently planted a garlic pear tree (Crateva religiosa) on a Taipower site, and it is today the only tree of its genus among the more than 3,000 protected trees in Taipei City. Since Taipower tore down the wall in front of the tree, it has become a scenic spot for the community. (courtesy of Taipower)