⚡ South Korea Electricity Bill Calculator
Living in Korea and wondering what your KEPCO (Korea Electric Power Corporation, 한전) bill will be? Enter your monthly usage to estimate it under the 2026 residential progressive rates — every rate is editable.
Appliance usage & extra cost
Bill by monthly usage (at the rates above, ₩)
How to use it
- Enter your monthly usage in kWh from your bill or the KEPCO ON app/website — it is the current meter reading minus the previous one.
- If the billing period is July–August pick Summer; for December–February pick Winter. Summer widens the tiers, and in summer and winter usage above 1,000 kWh is billed at the super-user rate.
- If rates have changed or you want to match your bill exactly, open ⚙ Rate settings and edit them. Everything recalculates.
- Use Appliance usage below to see how much running an air conditioner, dryer or heater adds to your bill.
This calculator is for South Korea only. Korean homes are billed by KEPCO under a progressive (누진제, nujinje) tariff, so the rules differ completely from flat or time-of-use rates in the US or Europe.
How Korea's progressive electricity rates work
Residential electricity in Korea uses a 3-tier progressive structure: the more you use, the higher the price per kWh. Your tier sets a single base charge, and the energy charge is calculated block by block. For example, 350 kWh in a non-summer month is billed as 200 kWh at the tier 1 rate plus 150 kWh at the tier 2 rate, with the tier 2 base charge.
| Tier | Other months | Summer (Jul–Aug) | Base charge | Energy rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | ≤ 200 kWh | ≤ 300 kWh | ₩910 | ₩120.0/kWh |
| Tier 2 | 201–400 kWh | 301–450 kWh | ₩1,600 | ₩214.6/kWh |
| Tier 3 | > 400 kWh | > 450 kWh | ₩7,300 | ₩307.3/kWh |
| Super-user | Usage over 1,000 kWh in summer and winter (Dec–Feb) | - | ₩736.2/kWh | |
How the bill is calculated
Electricity charge = base + energy + climate & environment ± fuel cost adjustment(each rounded down to the won)- Climate & environment charge — covers renewable-energy obligations, emissions trading and coal phase-down costs:
kWh × rate. - Fuel cost adjustment — passes through changes in fuel prices each quarter; it can be positive or negative.
VAT = electricity charge × 10%(rounded)Electric Power Industry Fund = electricity charge × 2.7%(rounded down to ₩10). It was cut from 3.7% to 3.2% in July 2024 and to 2.7% in July 2025.Bill = electricity charge + VAT + fund, rounded down to ₩10.
Worked example: 350 kWh
In a non-summer month: base ₩1,600 + energy ₩56,190 (200 × 120.0 + 150 × 214.6) + climate ₩3,150 + fuel ₩1,750 = ₩62,690. Add VAT ₩6,269 and the fund ₩1,690 and the bill is about ₩70,640 (roughly US$50). In July–August the wider tiers bring the same usage down to about ₩59,980.
Tips to keep the bill down
Under a progressive tariff, the tier boundaries matter most. Going past 400 kWh outside summer raises the base charge from ₩1,600 to ₩7,300 and bills the excess at ₩307.3/kWh — the usage table below shows how the cost jumps. High-wattage appliances (AC, dryer, space heater) make the biggest difference, and cutting standby power with a switched power strip saves a few kWh every month.
Estimating appliance usage
Monthly kWh = watts × hours per day × days ÷ 1,000. A 1,800 W air conditioner running 8 hours a day for 30 days is 432 kWh. Inverter air conditioners and refrigerators rarely run at full rated power, so real usage is often much lower; use the monthly kWh on the energy label if there is one.
Rates are KEPCO's residential low-voltage tariff as of 2026; the fuel cost adjustment and climate charge can change quarterly or yearly. Actual bills vary with pro-rated seasons when the meter date falls mid-month, welfare and large-family discounts, apartment bulk contracts (shared facility charges in maintenance fees), the TV license fee and high-voltage housing. Check KEPCO ON or your bill for the exact amount.