By Choi Sung-jin
The unusually scorching summer is finally over but many Korean families are being hit with another bomb called the "progressive electricity charge" -- which applies rates up to 11 times higher to heavy power users.
But there are large electricity consumers -- namely U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) -- safely beyond the reach of Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), a state utility that defies, or merely makes the pretense of heeding, top officials' calls for easing working families' financial burdens.
According to data KEPCO submitted to Rep. Lee Chan-yeol of the opposition Minjoo Party of Korea at the latter's request Monday, the U.S. troops defaulted on power charges of 1.9 billion won ($1.7 million) in the first seven months of this year, but the state power company has failed to get even the late fee amounting to 55 million won.
This is because of clauses in the contract signed between KEPCO and USFK that keeps the former from applying rates that exceed the lowest applied to other similar consumers or imposing penalties or interest on the latter's power bills.
The contract was concluded in favor of USFK at the behest of then President Park Chung-hee in 1962, considering national security needs, and has not changed since.
In Korea, consumers have to pay electricity charges within 20 days of receiving bills and KEPCO applies a default rate of 1.5 percent in the first two months and 3 percent a month thereafter.
The U.S. troops stationed in Korea have been enjoying another benefit concerning power bills -- the unit price they pay is far lower than that for Korean consumers. There were complaints in 2003 that the power rate for the American troops was too low and the two countries changed it from that imposed on industrial users to the average unit price of all consumers, in a decision made at the joint committee of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA).
Since the national blackout of September 2011, however, KEPCO has raised the electricity charge by 4-5 percent on five occasions, further widening the gap between Korean consumers and the U.S. troops, because power rates on the latter are based on the previous year's level regardless of current upward trends.
As of last Dec. 31, the unit price of electricity sold to the U.S. troops was 106.94 won per kilowatt-hour (kWh), 15 percent lower than that sold to Korean troops (122.28 won) and 16 percent, 6 percent and 1 percent lower than residential (123.69 won), educational (113.22 won) and industrial (107.41 won) consumers.
The cheap power sales have led to a serious waste of electricity by U.S. soldiers. Last year, an average American soldier here used 23,953 kWh of electricity, nearly 10 times more than average consumption of 2,534 kWh by Korean soldiers.
"We can start discussion only when the U.S. troops agree to it according to the SOFA rules," said an official at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. "Still, we will make continuous demands to revise it."
To raise the power price for U.S. troops, KEPCO would have to go through a complicated process. First, the state utility would have to calculate the average unit price of consumers and request the ministry revise the contract. The ministry then would ask the Ministry of Strategy and Finance to approve it. It would then go to a SOFA committee dealing with the public service to be passed. If the revision was successful, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would be asked to discuss and have it approved by the joint SOFA committee.
The unusually scorching summer is finally over but many Korean families are being hit with another bomb called the "progressive electricity charge" -- which applies rates up to 11 times higher to heavy power users.
But there are large electricity consumers -- namely U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) -- safely beyond the reach of Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), a state utility that defies, or merely makes the pretense of heeding, top officials' calls for easing working families' financial burdens.
According to data KEPCO submitted to Rep. Lee Chan-yeol of the opposition Minjoo Party of Korea at the latter's request Monday, the U.S. troops defaulted on power charges of 1.9 billion won ($1.7 million) in the first seven months of this year, but the state power company has failed to get even the late fee amounting to 55 million won.
This is because of clauses in the contract signed between KEPCO and USFK that keeps the former from applying rates that exceed the lowest applied to other similar consumers or imposing penalties or interest on the latter's power bills.
The contract was concluded in favor of USFK at the behest of then President Park Chung-hee in 1962, considering national security needs, and has not changed since.
In Korea, consumers have to pay electricity charges within 20 days of receiving bills and KEPCO applies a default rate of 1.5 percent in the first two months and 3 percent a month thereafter.
The U.S. troops stationed in Korea have been enjoying another benefit concerning power bills -- the unit price they pay is far lower than that for Korean consumers. There were complaints in 2003 that the power rate for the American troops was too low and the two countries changed it from that imposed on industrial users to the average unit price of all consumers, in a decision made at the joint committee of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA).
Since the national blackout of September 2011, however, KEPCO has raised the electricity charge by 4-5 percent on five occasions, further widening the gap between Korean consumers and the U.S. troops, because power rates on the latter are based on the previous year's level regardless of current upward trends.
As of last Dec. 31, the unit price of electricity sold to the U.S. troops was 106.94 won per kilowatt-hour (kWh), 15 percent lower than that sold to Korean troops (122.28 won) and 16 percent, 6 percent and 1 percent lower than residential (123.69 won), educational (113.22 won) and industrial (107.41 won) consumers.
The cheap power sales have led to a serious waste of electricity by U.S. soldiers. Last year, an average American soldier here used 23,953 kWh of electricity, nearly 10 times more than average consumption of 2,534 kWh by Korean soldiers.
"We can start discussion only when the U.S. troops agree to it according to the SOFA rules," said an official at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. "Still, we will make continuous demands to revise it."
To raise the power price for U.S. troops, KEPCO would have to go through a complicated process. First, the state utility would have to calculate the average unit price of consumers and request the ministry revise the contract. The ministry then would ask the Ministry of Strategy and Finance to approve it. It would then go to a SOFA committee dealing with the public service to be passed. If the revision was successful, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would be asked to discuss and have it approved by the joint SOFA committee.
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