Korea electricity bill
Korean household electricity is priced in tiers, so the last kilowatt costs more than twice the first. Enter your usage and see where it lands.
₩60,510
VAT and the power fund are already in. The TV licence fee and welfare discounts are not — those depend on your household.
- Tier 1300kWh × ₩120₩36,000
- Tier 250kWh × ₩214.6₩10,730
Rates as published in 2026-08. The fuel adjustment changes every quarter, so your paper bill may differ by a little.
What a month costs
| Usage | Sep–Jun | July–August |
|---|---|---|
| 150kWh | ₩23,880 | ₩23,880 |
| 200kWh | ₩31,500 | ₩31,500 |
| 300kWh | ₩58,270 | ₩46,740 |
| 350kWh | ₩71,260 | ₩60,510 |
| 400kWh | ₩84,270 | ₩73,510 |
| 500kWh | ₩127,280 | ₩111,260 |
| 600kWh | ₩163,810 | ₩147,780 |
Calculated from the rates published in 2026-08, including VAT and the power industry fund. The TV licence fee and welfare discounts are left out because they vary by household.
The tiers are not one rate on everything
This is the single thing people get wrong. Korea does not pick a rate based on your total and apply it to the whole month. Each slice of your usage is priced separately.
Outside July and August the boundaries sit at 200kWh and 400kWh. The first 200 kilowatt-hours cost ₩120 each, the next block costs ₩214.6, and anything above 400kWh costs ₩307.3.
So the top rate is more than two and a half times the bottom one. Going from 390 to 410kWh costs far more than going from 190 to 210, even though both are twenty kilowatt-hours.
The base charge steps up with the tier too — ₩910, ₩1,600, ₩7,300 per household. Crossing a boundary bumps that as well, which is why bills jump rather than drift.
July and August are cheaper than they look
Every summer the boundaries move up by 100kWh, to 300kWh and 450kWh. It is a deliberate discount so that running air conditioning does not push everyone into the top tier.
The effect is real. 400kWh costs ₩84,270 in an ordinary month and ₩73,510 in July or August — the same usage, less money.
Note that it applies to July and August only. A September heatwave is billed at the normal boundaries, which catches people out every year.
The lines on your paper bill
A Korean bill lists four charges and then two additions. The calculator above uses the same order, with the Korean label next to each one so you can match it to the paper.
Base charge (기본요금) is a flat monthly fee set by your tier. Energy charge (전력량요금) is the tiered part above — usually most of the bill.
Climate levy (기후환경요금) is ₩9 per kWh and funds renewables. Fuel adjustment (연료비조정액) is ₩5 per kWh right now and changes every quarter with fuel prices. Neither is tiered; both apply to every kilowatt-hour.
Then VAT at 10% and the power industry fund at 3.7% go on top of that subtotal. Together they add roughly 14% to whatever the four charges came to.
Things that catch people out
Above 1,000kWh there is a separate super-user rate. It is charged in winter and summer and is much higher again. If your usage is anywhere near that, treat the number above as a floor.
An apartment management fee is not this bill. In most Korean apartments electricity arrives inside the monthly management fee (관리비) along with water, heating and shared costs. The electricity line inside it is what this calculator estimates.
The TV licence fee is on the bill but not here. It is a flat ₩2,500 a month collected with electricity, and you can ask to have it removed if you own no television.
Working out how big an air conditioner or dehumidifier your place needs? Those calculators are on the Korean side — start from the square meters you get out of the pyeong converter.