Korea Electric Power Corp. will seek to introduce a regulation for controlling electricity consumption when demand spikes.
At the parliamentary audit on Friday, the power company said it will push to have such a measure included in related laws in order to prevent recurrences of the nationwide power shortage on Sept. 15.
KEPCO said the proposed regulation will require its customers to set targets for cutting electricity consumption in emergency situations such as when the demand rises sharply or when its supply capacity drops. According to KEPCO, Japan has similar measures in place under which the government has set a target of cutting electricity consumption by 15 percent, and those going over the limit are fined.
For informing its customers of a situation that requires them to lower electricity consumption, KEPCO said it will establish a system for informing the media and other concerned organizations. In addition, the company plans to develop a supply and demand forecasting system through which real-time information on related issues will be provided through a number of ways including text messages and smartphone applications.
The power supplier also said it will set up a multiple monitoring system to allow information on Korea Power Exchange’s operations to be shared among concerned organizations.
In addition to announcing plans for the emergency measure, KEPCO also revealed that 7.35 million customers including private households experienced power cuts more than once due to the rolling blackout implemented on Sept. 15. The government had tallied the number of households affected by the measure at 6.56 million on Sept. 16.
The country’s power regulators introduced a 30-minute long rolling blackout in some regions to maintain the reserve power capacity above 5 percent on Sept. 15 when unseasonable heat drove up electricity consumption.
By Choi He-suk (
cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)
