This article was originally published on the Chosun Ilbo and translated by OKN Correspondent.
Another “dark secret about nuclear power phase-out” of former ROK President Moon Jae-in is being exposed. Chosun Media found out that the relevant ministry reported twice on significantly higher electricity rates in case of nuclear power phase-out; however, the administration ignored it throughout the five-year term and did not disclose the report. This comes after the Board of Audit and Inspection revealed the Moon administration’s manipulation of the economic evaluation of Wolsong Unit 1 to push for a nuclear phase-out.
According to the summary of the news coverage on the 6th of this month, the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy submitted a report on “Estimation of the Scale of Electricity Rate Increase Due to the Nuclear Power Phase-Out” on May 24 and June 2, 2017, to the State Affairs Planning Advisory Committee. The above committee worked as the presidential transition committee. The report stated that “there will be a 2.6% increase in electricity prices per year from 2018 to 2030 compared to 2016 if the president pushes ahead with the nuclear power phase-out as promised.” This means that the increased rate in 2022, the last year of the Moon administration, will be 14%, 23% in 2025, and 40% in 2030.
As a result, it seems that the electricity prices for the public would increase like a snowball. The rates will increase by seven trillion won from 55 trillion won in 2016 to 62 trillion won in 2022 and by 20 trillion won to 75 trillion won in 2030. The report also included that “electricity rates would increase by 140 trillion won over 13 years until 2030, due to more than one to 20 trillion won additional cost to be covered starting from 2018.”
Such a report is very different from what the Moon administration has advertised for electricity rates. Throughout his term, the Moon administration has always stated that “there will be no increase of electricity rates until 2022 (when President Moon’s term ends)” or that “the electricity rates will rise by 10.9% in 2030,” meaning that there will be no additional or very little burden on the public due to the nuclear power phase-out.
The Moon administration has not disclosed the report to the Ministry of Industry and has not even informed the public of the report’s existence. In particular, the administration tried to silence the government officials who wrote the report on the significant electricity rate increase by bullying and creating a climate of fear. For this reason, some people say that the Moon administration, already from the beginning, conducted an electricity bill fraud to block any criticism against the nuclear power phase-out.
The Ministry of Trade prepared a report on the nuclear power phase-out two months before the election if Moon Jae-in was elected and another report in case a different candidate won. According to the Ministry of Trade, the “40% electricity rate increase forecast in 2030” analysis was a report reflecting the variables related to the cost increase in an uncertain presidential election. The report is known for having considered the power mix (the proportion of power generation by energy source) only to directly reflect the “impact of electricity rate increases due to the nuclear power phase-out.” It excluded uncertain factors such as international oil price, economic growth rate, inflation rate, and additional construction of a transmission network for solar and wind power generation.
The electricity rates will inevitably increase if a country reduces the operation of cheap nuclear power plants and increases solar and wind power and LNG power generation. Other countries such as Germany and Denmark, which have greatly expanded renewable energy, have experienced this without exception. For example, Germany charges more than 50% of electricity bills as taxes and surcharges for subsidies on renewable energy. An energy expert said that “the Ministry of Industry officials must have thought that they needed to inform the public of the increase in electricity rates even if South Korea quit nuclear power.”
However, the work report on May 24, held over an hour-long, was close to a climate of fear. It was said that the atmosphere was “aggressive,” “people from the Moon administration yelled at the officials,” and “it was so under pressure that no discussion could take place.” The then-State Affairs Planning Advisory Committee consisted of 34 members from six subcommittees, including Chairman Jin-pyo Kim. While only six members were from the Economics Subcommittee ꠱, where the Ministry of Trade belonged, 20 members, more than half of the total committee members, rushed in the work report by the Ministry. It shows that the Moon administration’s personnel showed great interest in the nuclear power phase-out and electricity prices.
Former Minister of SMEs and Startups Jong-hak Hong, a member of the Economics Subcommittee ꠰ at the time, and former Assemblywoman Min-hee Choi, then-member of the Social Sciences Subcommittee, also attended the conference on that day. There were testimonies that about ten Ministry of Trade officials who came to the work report were in trouble because they were asked offensive questions, such as “why bring up the electricity rate increase now?”, “do you oppose energy conversion (nuclear power phase-out)?” and “does not the electricity rate decrease if you expand solar power?”
An official said that “you could not even imagine opposing nuclear power phase-out in the early years of the Moon administration, which meant that you should never mention the electricity rate increase.” In this regard, former Minister Hong, a member of the committee, said that he does not remember whether he attended the meeting. Former Assemblywoman Choi said: “I attended the ministry’s work report to learn about the issue and may have asked questions because I was curious (about the prospect of an electricity rate increase); however, I am not an energy expert, so what I said (at the time) was worthless.”
A work report to the National Assembly was held in July 2017, one month after the second work report of the Ministry of Trade. Then-Minister of Trade Woon-gyu Baek, contrary to the report, stated that “there is no factor in raising electricity rates until 2022 when the current administration ends.” Tae-nyeon Kim, then-chairman of the Democratic Party’s policy committee, also said that “there will be no increase in electricity rates for the next five years even if nuclear power is phased out.” The Moon administration, while publicly advertising “not to worry about electricity bills,” established the 1.6 trillion won “Korean Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) Technical University” amid the aggravation of KEPCO’s financial difficulties. It also announced a plan to import electricity from Russia and China if there is a decrease in stable electricity due to solar and wind power. The problem of electricity rate, which the Moon administration has suppressed for five years, is now on the verge of exploding under the current administration, including the rapid deterioration of KEPCO’s financial difficulties.
As a presidential candidate, former President Moon Jae-in stated that he would fully review the nuclear power policy. He had also promised to stop the construction of Shin-Kori Units 5 and 6; halt and abolish plans to construct new nuclear power plants; to increase the proportion of new and renewable energy generation such as solar and wind power to 20% by 2030.
