Electricity cost to rise with shift to eco-friendly energy: lawmaker

The electricity production cost will surge sharply in the coming decades as the Moon Jae-in administration's plans to halt construction of new nuclear power plants in pursuit of eco-friendly energy, an opposition lawmaker said Thursday.

The liberal Moon government has announced plans to decommission several aging nuclear power plants earlier than expected and scrapped plans for the construction of several nuclear power plants.

Moon also pledged to close several coal-fired power plants so the country can shift to environmentally friendly sources of energy.

The Moon administration's plans will raise the production cost between 2015 and 2035 to 734 trillion won ($648 billion) from 502 trillion won, calculated under the plans drawn up by the previous Park Geun-hye government, Rep. Kim Jung-hoon of the major opposition Liberty Korea Party said, citing statistics from the National Assembly Research Service.

The figures translate into 11 trillion won in additional production expenses annually.

Kim said the rate per kwh will increase 2.13 percent to 113.6 won in 2018 from 111.23 won in 2016.

The rate will further rise 7.21 percent to 119.25 won in 2019 and 10.45 percent to 122.86 won in 2020, he said.

By 2024, the rate will soar 20 percent to 134.62 won, according to the lawmaker.

"The government needs to reconsider its policy of scrap nuclear power plants and consult closely with relevant parties to minimize rate hikes," he said. (Yonhap)