Aerial view of KEPCO [매경DB]– The government eventually paved the way to cover some of the costs of establishing and operating the KEPCO University (Korea Energy Technology University), which amounted to approximately 1.6 trillion won, with the Electric Power Industry Foundation Fund.
By revising the enforcement decree, the scope of the use of the fund has been expanded from the existing electric power industry experts training to the related convergence field expert training project. It is a concept that includes educational projects such as universities established by public enterprises and public institutions, and means that the power fund will be put into the KEPCO University of Technology, which is the presidential election pledge of President Moon Jae-in and a national task.
In the position of the KEPCO University of Technology, which is about to open in March next year, it will take a breather to raise costs. However, in fact, it is expected that criticism that the government will use the power fund from the pockets of the people in the form of’quasi-tax’ is used as’ssamjit money’.
The government has been using the power fund to revitalize renewable energy businesses such as solar power, and in July of last year, it was controversial that it decided to preserve the cost of nuclear power plants such as Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power.
On the 12th, the government promulgated a partial amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Electricity Business Act. The revised decree expanded the section of’Cultivation and Management of Professional Manpower in the Electric Power Industry’ in Article 34, which regulates the use of the Electricity Fund, to’Cultivation and management of experts in the electric power industry and related convergence fields’.
The reason why the government made it possible to use the electric power fund for the KEPCO is that the cost is so enormous. According to KEPCO, if various incidental expenses are included in the establishment and operation of KEPCO, it is estimated that 1.6 trillion won will be required until 2031, 10 years after the opening of the school. The immediate establishment cost alone is 62 billion won, and the annual operating cost is 64.1 billion won. KEPCO is planning to raise contributions with its subsidiaries, but there is a great concern that the burden on the public may be transferred to the public, such as the management environment of subsidiaries is difficult, and the cost of electricity is eventually raised due to excessive investment. Although 200 billion won has been secured for university development in Jeollanam-do and Naju, it is evaluated that it is not very helpful right away because it receives 20 billion won each year for 10 years after opening. As of the end of 2019, it paved the way so that a part of the power fund accumulated about 520 trillion won can be used.
Earlier, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced the legislation in January of last year. At that time, the interpretation of the scope of the project for training professionals in diverse fields was directly specified in parentheses as well as the interpretation that “a university established and operated by a school corporation sponsored by a public institution in accordance with Article 5 of the Act on the Operation of Public Institutions”. In this revision, it was deleted. An official from the Ministry of Industry explained, “I modified the article according to the opinion of the Ministry of Legislation that the scope of support should be indicated for the entire project, not for the beneficiary organizations.”
The Electricity Fund is stipulated in an enforcement decree that the government can revise by itself. Regardless of the discussions in the National Assembly, this means that if the government decides, it can put funds where it is needed. Against this, the opposition party has criticized the government for trying to use the electricity fund at will to cover the cost of the’post-nuclear power policy’ and keep the’local pledge’. There was also a constant criticism about the structure in which the government uses money from the people’s pockets like ssamjit money. The electricity fund is raised by 3.7% of the electricity bills paid by the public, and has a strong’quasi-tax’ character, because the scope of use can be modified with the revision of the enforcement decree. Regarding this, an official from the Ministry of Industry said, “Even if there is a basis for support, the budget should be discussed with the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the National Assembly deliberation process should be passed.”
Currently, in the National Assembly, a special law of the KEPCO University (Korea Energy Engineering University bill) is submitted to the Mid-term Venture Committee of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. For the development and stable operation of the school, the government, local governments, and public institutions can provide contributions to cover expenses for KEPCO’s facilities, facilities, research, and operation. It also contained content that the state and local governments can support the KEPCO with state-owned and shared property through free lending. It is a bill initiated by 51 lawmakers pan-passport, representing Congressman Shin Jeong-hoon in October, but a fierce opposition party is expected.
On the other hand, the revised decree also included the content that allows new and renewable energy businesses exceeding 1000kW to supply electricity to companies through KEPCO (electricity sales business) without going through the power market.
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