Korea electric Power Corporation reaches 2 million energy cashback participants

Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) announced that its residential energy cashback program reached 2 million participants.

The program rewards households that use less electricity than their average consumption from the previous two years by providing discounts on their electricity bills. This milestone means approximately one out of every 10 households in the country now participates in the initiative. The program has already resulted in significant energy savings.

KEPCO reported that households saved 1025GWh of electricity in the first half of this year alone. This amount is roughly equivalent to the total annual electricity consumption of all households in Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, a South Korean province. KEPCO estimates that these efforts reduced greenhouse gas emissions by about 430,000 tons, which the company says is comparable to planting 65 million pine trees. KEPCO is evolving the program to manage demand more actively.

In addition to reducing total usage, the company now encourages households to shift their electricity consumption to daytime hours when renewable energy production is high. To support this, KEPCO launched a smart appliance cashback service in September and October, which attracted 110,000 participants. This initiative helps balance the power grid and improves the efficiency of renewable energy use by aligning the operation of appliances like washing machines and dishwashers with peak production times.