eFM News

[Anchor]

The government and the ruling party have decided to cut the electricity rate for households for July and August in light of this summer's record-breaking heat wave.

The measure is expected to cut electricity bill by 276 billion won and reduce the burden of expenses on households by nearly 20 percent.

Julie Sohn has more.

[Reporter]

Officials from the government and the ruling Democratic Party finalized measures this morning to ease households' burdens due to the country's incremental electricity rate system, which charges higher rates depending on the amount of electricity consumed.

Under the system, households pay 93.3 won per kilowatt for the first 200 kilowatts in a month and 187.9 won for the next 200 kilowatts.

The rate rises to 280.6 won per kilowatt for usage over 401 kilowatts a month, or 300 percent more than the starting price.

To reduce the burden, the government decided to raise the maximum amount of electricity that gets charged the first two sets of rates by 100 kilowatts.

When the new measure is applied, it is expected to cut electricity bills by 276 billion won and reduce the bill by 19.5 percent per household.

During the meeting, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Paik Un-gyu stressed that the country has no problem in managing power supply and demand as it has secured electricity reserves.

Ruling party lawmakers, meanwhile, said they will revise the law in August that designates heat and cold waves in the form of natural disasters, which would increase government support for compensation for related illnesses and deaths.

Julie Sohn, eFM News.■