Revitalizing Domestic Demand and Social Contribution... The 'All-Purpose' Energy Corporation

Ministry of Economy and Finance Achieves Comprehensive 'A' Grade for 3 Consecutive Years in 2019 Public Institution Management Evaluation
Top Efficiency Home Appliance Project a 'Hit', Supports Vulnerable Groups with Cooling Vouchers

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The Korea Energy Agency contributed to revitalizing the domestic economy last year through initiatives such as the 'Top Efficiency Home Appliance Rebate Program.' It also introduced the nation's first 'Cooling Voucher System,' which reduces summer electricity bill burdens for 630,000 vulnerable households nationwide, including the elderly and disabled. Recognized for its economic revitalization and social contribution achievements, the Energy Agency received an A grade in the 2019 Public Institution Management Evaluation conducted by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Only five public institutions achieved a comprehensive A grade for three consecutive years.

The reason the Energy Agency could receive the highest rating was due to its recognized contributions to realizing social public interest while also revitalizing the national economy.

A representative example is the high-efficiency home appliance market activation project, which offers a 10% rebate on the purchase amount when buying energy-efficient appliances. This program was considered a hit among government policies aimed at recovering the domestic economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s budget was expanded fivefold to 150 billion KRW compared to previous years. The project ranked second in the Ministry of Economy and Finance’s domestic economic stimulus projects in the second half of last year and was selected as the top priority economic stimulus project at this year’s COVID-19 response Cabinet meeting. An agency official explained, "It led to a 'two birds with one stone' effect by activating a domestic market worth about 300 billion KRW and improving the energy efficiency of domestic home appliances."

The Energy Agency was the first in the country to introduce the cooling voucher system to reduce summer electricity bill burdens for 630,000 vulnerable households nationwide, including the elderly and disabled. This year, the support target was expanded to 65,000 people, including single-parent and child-headed households. For households that had difficulty using vouchers, staff directly raised 23 million KRW through the Saessak Fund to support purchases of electric blankets and boiler repairs. This was also selected as an excellent collaborative project with the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

The Energy Agency helped 9,370 startups, including the construction of 9,032 new solar power plants, through AI-based solar profit generation model consulting. It integrated power plant information from seven institutions and collected data from 400,000 domestic facilities to conduct 6,000 profit consultations. A system was established that diagnoses installation feasibility when users set a specific region and supports economic analysis based on nearby power plants. Within six months, 34,000 prospective entrepreneurs participated. This year, the agency developed the first solar safety insurance, leading to 806 subscriptions.

Additionally, the agency introduced a new ICT-based diagnostic system to improve energy efficiency. With the agency’s support, CJ CGV reduced electricity bills by up to 9.3% (2.5 billion KRW) through diagnostics using this system. The savings were returned to the local community. The agency also supported the integration of energy big data with commercial banks. Based on data from 42,000 facilities and 80,000 boilers nationwide, companies planning equipment replacement were identified. Subsequently, data was provided to industries through collaboration with 13 financial institutions, including Woori Bank and Hana Bank.

The Energy Agency’s hiring of a record 117 new employees (16.7% of its workforce) since its founding and securing performance bonuses for regular employees converted from non-regular status for the first time among quasi-governmental institutions were also cited as exemplary cases. Furthermore, it was the first non-safety institution to acquire the Safety and Health Management Certification (ISO 45001:2018) and was selected as an excellent institution among 58 organizations in the Ministry of SMEs and Startups’ win-win growth evaluation, recognizing various social value achievements.

Regarding this management evaluation result, the Energy Agency explained that it was highly evaluated for achievements such as ▲strengthening quality job creation ▲thorough safety management ▲support for SMEs and regional economic revitalization ▲data-driven digital new deal, as a result of efforts to reorganize its management strategy system to enhance social value realization and prepare a self-innovation tool (KINOTE) to internalize social values across its core projects.

Kim Changseop, Director of the Energy Agency, said, "We will continue to faithfully carry out government national policy operations," adding, "We will continue efforts for management innovation, strengthening public participation and communication, to be remembered as an institution leading social value realization for a long time."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.