Starting Thursday, power costs will increase by 10.2 percent for high-volume industrial users and 5.2 percent for smaller companies, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and Korea Electric Power Corp.
“We raised industrial use rates, considering that large export-oriented companies have a greater capacity to share the burden," Vice Minister Choi Nam-ho said at a media briefing, citing strong performances by exporters and manufacturers this year.
The hike is expected to generate about 4.7 trillion won (US$3.4 billion) in additional annual revenue for debt-laden KEPCO.
The state-run utility has accumulated losses of 43 trillion won between 2021 and 2023 due to selling power below cost during the global energy crisis, including Russia's war in Ukraine.
Industrial users, while comprising 1.7 percent of KEPCO's 25 million customers, account for 53.2 percent of total power consumption, making this targeted increase equivalent to an overall 5 percent rate hike across all customer segments.
