Busan City Holds 'Understanding the Electricity Rate Differentiation System Forum'... Public Discussion on Improving Regional Rate Structures

On the 22nd at 2 PM, Busan City Council Meeting with Experts, Lee Seong-gwon Deputy Mayor of Economy, Council Members, and Citizens Attending

Busan City will hold a "Discussion on Understanding the Differential Electricity Rate System" at 2 p.m. on the 22nd in the main conference room of the Busan City Council.

This discussion aims to help citizens understand the "Regional Differential Electricity Rate System" and explore directions for realizing "regional balanced development through the introduction of the regional differential electricity rate system."

The "Regional Differential Electricity Rate System" has been institutionally established with the enactment of the "Special Act on the Activation of Distributed Energy" (effective June 14, 2024), but detailed implementation plans have not yet been determined.

The discussion will be held under the theme "Energy Decentralization Policy in the Local Era, Realizing the Regional Differential Electricity Rate System!" with the subtitle "Electricity Rate Improvement Measures Considering the Damage to Power Generation and Transmission Areas." It will include expert presentations, panel discussions, and Q&A sessions with the audience.

Senior Research Fellow Lee Yusu of the Korea Energy Economics Institute will serve as the chair, and participants will include Lee Seong-gwon, Deputy Mayor for Economy of Busan City, city council members, experts, and citizens.

First, in the keynote presentations, Senior Research Fellow Park Gwang-su of the Korea Energy Economics Institute will explain "Current Status and Improvement Directions of Domestic Electricity Rates," and Research Fellow Nam Ho-seok of the Busan Development Institute will discuss "Overview of the Special Act and the Necessity of Introducing the Regional Differential Electricity Rate System."

Following this, panelists including Seok Ji-man, Deputy General Manager of the Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Yoo Jae-guk, Legislative Research Officer of the National Assembly Legislative Research Office, Professor Lee Geun-jae of the Department of Economics at Pusan National University, and City Council Member Im Mal-suk will engage in discussions on the presentations, followed by a Q&A session with the audience.

Any citizen interested in the "Regional Differential Electricity Rate System" is welcome to attend freely and ask questions on-site.

Considering the purpose of enacting the Special Act on the Activation of Distributed Energy, the city views the need for public discourse on the "Regional Differential Electricity Rate System" to resolve the imbalance between power generation areas and consumption areas.

Although areas around power plants experience negative externalities such as tangible and intangible risks, environmental damage, and construction of power supply facilities, transmission towers, and transmission lines, domestic electricity rates are unified without regional differentiation, causing equity issues between power generation and consumption areas.

In particular, nuclear power plant-dense areas such as Busan face intensified social conflicts due to safety concerns related to nuclear power plant operations.

The city plans to convey opinions gathered from this discussion to relevant government departments to assist in preparing detailed implementation plans for the "Regional Differential Electricity Rate System," and to coordinate with other cities and provinces hosting nuclear power plants to achieve social consensus on the system.

Kim Kyung-deok, Director of the Citizen Safety Office, stated, "If the 'Regional Differential Electricity Rate System' is realized, it will greatly help regional economic revitalization and job creation by attracting companies with high electricity usage to the region."

Busan City Hall.

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