[2024 Budget] Additional 20,000 Won Support for Heating and Cooling Vulnerable Groups

The support amount for energy-vulnerable groups, such as heating and cooling, will increase by 20,000 won compared to this year. The number of eligible households will also increase by nearly 300,000.

According to the 2024 budget plan announced by the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the 29th, the budget for 'Energy Vulnerable Protection' will expand from 800 billion won this year to 1.3 trillion won.

First, the support unit price for the 'Energy Voucher,' which is a purchase voucher for electricity, city gas, kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), briquettes, etc., provided to vulnerable groups (based on a family of four), will increase by 20,000 won from 347,000 won this year to 367,000 won next year (314,000 won in winter and 53,000 won in summer).

The support target will expand by 293,000 households from 857,000 households eligible for livelihood and medical benefits to 1.15 million households classified as climate-sensitive under the Basic Livelihood Security Program.

Additionally, 54,000 households will receive support for insulation construction and replacement of heating and cooling facilities to improve energy efficiency in residential spaces, and support for purchasing high-efficiency appliances will expand to 148,000 cases. The budget for next year newly allocates 31.4 billion won to establish 17 LPG pipeline networks at the eup, myeon, and dong levels.

The budget for energy use efficiency will also increase from 600 billion won this year to 800 billion won next year. Support for energy efficiency diagnosis for small and medium-sized enterprises will expand to 1,000 locations, and support for the distribution and financing of high-efficiency equipment will also be expanded.

For small business owners, support will be provided for the installation of 49,000 high-efficiency heating and cooling units and the cost of installing doors on open-type refrigerators in food stores (15,000 units). The scope of carbon point support, aimed at encouraging voluntary energy reduction by general households, will be relaxed from 'reduction compared to the previous year' to 'reduction compared to the average of participants,' increasing the number of supported households to 2.6 million.

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