[2020 National Audit] "Electricity Bill Special Discounts Increased 25 Times Since Moon Administration... KEPCO Debt Soars"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] Since the launch of the Moon Jae-in administration, the amount of special discounts on electricity bills has increased 25 times compared to the previous government's three years. The special discount amount alone reached 2.7 trillion won, and other welfare discount amounts also increased by about 300 billion won in three years.

According to the 'Status of Special Discounts and Welfare Discounts on Electricity Bills' submitted by Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) to Yang Geum-hee, a member of the National Assembly's Industry, Trade, Energy, Small and Medium Enterprises Committee from the People Power Party, on the 19th, the electricity fees discounted under the special discount system amounted to about 2.6527 trillion won from 2017 to 2019.

Compared to the level of 106.4 billion won over three years from 2014 to 2016, this is about a 25-fold increase. Adding the discounted amount of 443.6 billion won until June this year, the total is 3.0963 trillion won. The special discount system provides discounts on electricity fees for specific uses or targets such as energy storage system (ESS) charging power, electric vehicle charging power, and renewable energy.

The welfare discount amount for socially vulnerable groups or policy consideration groups also increased significantly. The discount amount, which was 262.3 billion won in 2015 and 274.8 billion won in 2016, surged to 483.1 billion won in 2017 when the Moon Jae-in administration took office, 554 billion won in 2018, and 571.2 billion won last year. This is an increase of about 300 billion won in three years compared to 2016.

The problem lies in the fact that KEPCO's debt ratio has been increasing year by year. KEPCO's debt ratio, which was 89.9% in 2016, rose to 91.0% in 2017, 98.7% in 2018, and 113.4% last year. There are criticisms that this is 'welfare populism' ignoring the situation where the debt scale is snowballing due to energy transition policies aligned with the government's nuclear phase-out policy.

Assembly member Yang said, "The Moon Jae-in administration is only taking credit by passing on the cost increases due to the expansion of renewable energy and the damage caused by the nuclear phase-out to KEPCO," and added, "Ultimately, since this can lead to an increase in electricity bills, I want to ask whether sufficient explanation and understanding have been sought from the public."

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