KEPCO Proposes Samsung and SK Hynix Pay 25 Trillion Won in Electricity Bills in Advance

It has been confirmed that Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) has proposed that Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix pre-pay their electricity bills for the next five years, amounting to 20 trillion won and 5 trillion won respectively, and is currently discussing detailed conditions.

KEPCO's plan is to utilize this 25 trillion won advance payment as funding for constructing power grids for the semiconductor clusters in Yongin and the Honam region.

KEPCO recently proposed the advance payment of electricity bills totaling 20 trillion won to Samsung Electronics and 5 trillion won to SK Hynix.

Last year's electricity bills were 4.1 trillion won for Samsung Electronics and 900 billion won for SK Hynix. The advance amounts were estimated based on these figures for the coming five years starting next year.

Currently, there is a system where KEPCO customers can prepay electricity bills under the category of advance payments and receive interest on them.

KEPCO is also reviewing a plan to establish a separate special provision to utilize this system as a large-scale financing tool.

It is reported that KEPCO has proposed an interest rate higher than the yield on two-year Treasury bonds to both companies for the prepaid fees.

A method of paying the interest by deducting it from electricity bills on a semi-annual basis instead of in cash is being discussed.

However, KEPCO stated that while it is true they proposed the electricity bill prepayment to the two companies, specific details such as participation, interest rates, and the scale of advance payment have not yet been finalized.

The deterioration of KEPCO's financial capacity is cited as the background behind the prepayment proposal.

As of the end of June, KEPCO's liabilities stood at 210.7 trillion won, with interest expenses alone amounting to around 11.5 billion won per day.

KEPCO believes that the electricity bill prepayment system will allow companies that urgently need power grid expansion and KEPCO, which requires investment capital, to mutually complement each other's needs.

Reported by Jung Da-eun | Video by Kim Na-on | Graphics by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.