Kepco's adjusted unit fuel cost to remain unchanged

State-run Korea Electric Power Corp. (Kepco) said Tuesday it will hold steady the adjusted unit fuel cost, a key part of the country's electricity rates, in the second quarter despite high energy prices amid rising inflation.

Kepco said it has decided to set the adjusted unit fuel cost at zero won per kilowatt-hour for the April-June period of this year, the same as that three months earlier.

The company proposed a 3 won ($0.002) increase in the adjusted unit fuel cost, citing soaring global energy costs, but the government rejected it amid high inflation, Kepco said.

"The government said it needs to seek price stabilization for the people who have difficulties due to the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic and high inflation," Kepco said in a release.

Late last year, Kepco adopted a flexible electricity rate system linked to global fuel prices in a move to improve its profitability. It previously charged an electricity rate under a fixed-rate electricity billing system.

Yonhap