The power plant drawing the most severe public condemnation, of the three authorized by the MOEA, was the 1.8 million kW thermal power plant in the Niushan ecological conservation area. The planned location was right in the Hualien-Taitung coastal scenic area, which supposedly had legal protection as a nature preserve.
經濟部核准設立的 3 座發電廠中，最為人詬病的，是在牛山生態保護區建一座 180 萬千瓦的火力發電廠，它的預定地正好在花東國家海岸風景特定區裡，且是於法有據的「自然保護區」。