Photo : YONHAP News
The state power company has decided to freeze electricity prices for the fourth quarter of the year.
The Korea Electric Power Corporation(KEPCO) said Monday that with the approval of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, it will maintain the adjusted unit fuel cost at the current level of five won per kilowatt-hour for the October-December period.
Electricity rates are calculated by adding the basic fuel cost, the climate environment fee and the fuel cost adjustment rate.
The adjusted unit fuel cost for the fourth quarter should have been set at minus five won to reflect the changes in global fuel costs over the past three months.
But the ministry instructed KEPCO to leave the figure unchanged, citing the power company’s massive debt, which stood at 202-point-nine trillion won at the end of June.
In August, Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun said the government would increase electricity prices after the summer ended.