But the state-run petroleum refiner CPC Corp., Taiwan and utilities firm Taiwan Power Co. insisted there is no room for further price decreases.

The foundation's call came after the opposition Democratic Progressive Party urged the government to lower the rates, out of consideration for weakening consumers' spending power caused by the global economic recession.

A growing number of companies have also asked the government to help reduce utility rates to help them cope with sharp declines in business orders.

Officials at the foundation said that based on the pricing formula set by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), the two state enterprises should slash prices immediately.

When taking into account the time lag after the fall of crude oil and LNG prices on the international market, the LNG prices should be cut by 26 percent in January, they said.

Crude has tumbled by 53 percent from the record high level price in mid-July last year, they pointed out.

Taipower's main materials for power generation include LNG, accounting for 44 percent; coal, 35 percent; and fuel oil, 13 percent. But the prices have slid 11.7 percent, 44.3 percent and 58 percent respectively.

However, executives at both CPC and Taipower said both companies are still losing money because they have been forced by the government and lawmakers to absorb rising costs of materials for too long.

They also charged that the Consumers Foundation has been using inaccurate data to gauge the two companies' finances.

They added that importation costs for crude oil, LNG, fuel oil, and coal account for only a portion of the total operating costs, and they should not be used as the sole criterion when setting final prices they charge customers.

But the foundation said all government-owned enterprises should make public and totally transparent their cost and price structures so that consumers will not be victimized by the lax operating efficiency of state firms.