Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) has invested 197.9 billion won (approximately $170 million) over five years to prevent outages caused by birds, yet the number of annual outages has doubled.
On October 6, Yonhap News reported that data submitted by Representative Eo Gi-goo of the National Assembly's Climate, Energy, Environment, and Labor Committee revealed that KEPCO spent this amount on bird-related outage prevention from 2021 to 2025.
Bird-related outages occur when birds, such as magpies and crows, come into contact with power facilities like utility poles and transmission towers, or when they build nests using branches or wires, leading to power supply interruptions. These incidents, particularly during breeding seasons, have repeatedly resulted in large-scale outages and damage to both industries and households.
According to KEPCO, over 167,000 nests were removed, and more than 993,000 birds, including magpies and crows, were captured during this period. Despite these efforts, bird-related outages have increased, with reports rising from 66 incidents in 2021 (affecting 29,087 households) to 129 incidents in 2025 (impacting 68,431 households). In total, 266,091 households experienced outages during this timeframe. As of August this year, 51,230 households have already been affected.
Representative Eo criticized the approach of merely counting captured birds and removed nests as achievements, stating that it is essential to verify whether hazardous facilities have been properly inspected and how much the captures have actually reduced the risk of outages. He emphasized the need to expand facility improvements that reflect the ecological characteristics of birds and to implement non-capture measures, advocating for budget allocations based on the effectiveness of outage reduction.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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