Moon orders electricity rate cut for July-August to help ease people's financial burden

By Park Si-soo

President Moon Jae-in on Monday ordered a temporary cut to the electricity rate amid the scorching heat wave that hit the entire country.

Moon said at a meeting with his senior secretaries that a temporary easing of the incremental electricity rate system for households should be carried out in July and August, along with an expanded discount of electrical costs for the low-income bracket and social welfare facilities, according to Cheong Wa Dae.

The instruction came as the sweltering heat wave swept the entire country. Temperatures across the country hovered around 40 degrees Celsius, but low-income households refrained from operating air conditioners over concerns of a so-called "electricity price bomb."

The incremental electricity bill system is only applied to households, which bear more burden for electricity costs than industrial sites and merchandisers. The incremental system was adopted in the 1970s to allow industrial companies to use more electricity than households for fast industrialization.

Calls mounted for the revision of the system as it increases the electrical cost burden for low-income households.