Lawmakers rap power suppliers for nationwide blackouts

In a rare bipartisan move, lawmakers of both ruling and opposition parties harshly criticized the country's electricity power suppliers on Friday for causing power outages that hurt businesses and inconvenienced people across the country. Factories and shops had to suspend work and people were caught in elevators when the blackouts hit the nation on Sept. 15. Investigations revealed that unseasonably high temperatures increased electricity demand at a time when energy authorities reduced supply for scheduled maintenance. During a parliamentary hearing, the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) lawmaker Lee Myung-gyu and the opposition Democratic Party (DP) lawmaker Kang Chang-il said Korea Power Exchange (KPX), the state-run energy-trading authority, must be held responsible for the nationwide blackouts. The GNP lawmaker argued that the KPX should be abolished for failing to estimate power demand, while the DP lawmaker rebuked the state-run body for monopolizing the country's energy information and not being able to cope with an emergency situation. "Without disclosing the power reserves or seriousness of the situation, the power exchange reported to government that it was starting a controlled blackout," said Kang, calling the nationwide power cut a "disaster." Other lawmakers also echoed criticism and urged the government to restructure the country's energy system through reforms and a reshuffling of top managers. Lee Hwa-soo of the GNP directed his criticism at Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) for failing to effectively regulate the artificial blackouts. Lee pointed out that seven medical operations were forced to be halted and the country's tax offices, city halls, banks and military camps experienced power failures. Power outages are rare in South Korea, which has a highly developed electricity grid infrastructure. The last time that the country experienced a nationwide partial blackout was in the early 1970s. Another lawmaker urged officials from the Ministry of Knowledge Economy to reform the country's electricity charge system, saying that the current system favors export-driven conglomerates. A government official said that the ministry will review setting up a task force that could examine the feasibility of merging the KPX with KEPCO, and examine ways to better deal with emergency situation in the future.