[GLOBAL ECONOMIC TIMES]  Starting from the 24th, industrial electricity rates will rise by an average of 9.7%, or 16.1 won per kWh. General electricity rates used in commercial facilities such as homes and restaurants will be frozen. 

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) held a briefing at the Sejong Government Complex on the 23rd, attended by Second Vice Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Choi Nam-ho and KEPCO President Kim Dong-cheol, and announced plans to increase electricity rates that included the following.

On this day, the government announced a plan to increase electricity rates, including “reflecting some of the accumulated electricity rate increase factors and adjusting electricity rates to encourage efficient energy consumption.”

Industrial electricity accounts for about half of total electricity usage. The number of customers using industrial electricity is 1.7% of all customers, but accounts for 53.2% of total electricity usage (as of 2023).

Regarding the background of the electricity rate increase, KEPCO said, “Due to the impact of the surge in international fuel prices, despite six rate increases since 2022 and intensive self-rescue efforts, the cumulative deficit from 2021 to the first half of this year amounts to approximately 41 trillion won. “As of the first half of 2024, debt amounts to approximately 203 trillion won,” he explained.

Accordingly, KEPCO is expected to be able to expect the effect of raising the overall electricity rate by approximately 5% just by increasing electricity rates limited to industrial use. The industry predicts that additional electricity sales revenue will increase by approximately 4.7 trillion won on an annual basis.

The most recent electricity rate increase occurred in November of last year. At the time of the rate increase, excluding residential and general use, only industrial use increased by an average of 4.9%.

This time, it was decided to freeze residential electricity rates used by ordinary households and general electricity rates used by stores, etc.

Even as factors for electricity rate increases have accumulated since the increase in May last year, residential and general electricity rates remain frozen.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and KEPCO explain that this is a measure that takes into account the burden on the low-income economy and the impact on prices.