[Reporter’s Notebook] To Go Beyond Just Appealing to the Public for 'Energy Saving'

'Electricity is domestically produced, but the raw materials are imported.'

This is a phrase that many have seen or heard at least once. The reason the government is bringing up this old phrase again is that the cost of importing expensive energy has recently become too high. South Korea, with an energy import dependency rate of 92%, is especially sensitive to international energy prices. As the unit price of energy imports rises, the country has recorded a trade deficit for 13 consecutive months.

The government is also seeking ways to reduce energy consumption. Aiming to announce the 'Energy Efficiency Innovation and Conservation Enhancement Plan' within this month, it will hold the 'Pan-Ministerial Energy Efficiency Innovation Council' on the afternoon of the 14th to discuss specific proposals.

The core of this plan is to reduce energy consumption. This means producing products that require less electricity to run a washing machine cycle or reducing the number of cycles at home from two to one. However, improving energy efficiency is difficult to achieve in the short term. Enhancing the efficiency of home appliances or building energy-saving homes requires time and money. Given that the final energy consumption this year is expected to increase by 1.2% to 2.184 billion toe (tons of oil equivalent) compared to the previous year, this is a distant prospect.

Ultimately, immediate energy savings can only be achieved by encouraging users to reduce their energy consumption. The government is already running an 'Energy Cashback' program that refunds fees when energy usage is reduced. However, discussions are needed to improve the effectiveness of the cashback structure. Gas usage inevitably increases when temperatures drop. Currently, fees are refunded if usage is reduced. Because of this, after a cold wave, there is a high chance of receiving cashback the following year, but if a warmer-than-average winter returns, cashback cannot be received. This means that energy savings through gas cashback may be a one-time event.

To encourage continuous participation in savings, it is worth considering adding a progressive element to gas cashback, offering discounts on fees based on usage brackets. Also, if introducing a progressive rate system can reduce gas consumption, a plan to apply a progressive element to gas fees?similar to electricity fees where higher usage results in higher rates?should be examined.

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