Keep AC to 26 or higher: Government

The government urged citizens yesterday to limit their use of electricity by maintaining a room temperature of 26 degrees Celsius or higher in their homes and offices and to minimize use of air conditioners and fans during peak hours. A recent surge in demand threatens the power supply and raises brownout fears. The call comes as power use has been fast rising amid a heat wave and robust economic activity. The country’s maximum power demand reached 70.96 million kilowatts on Monday, breaching last year’s 69.89 million kilowatts. It further rose to 71.30 million kilowatts the following day. Announcing a statement, Choi Joong-kyung, minister of knowledge economy, said a surge in use of electricity is inevitable due to the economic recovery, but said the problem is households’ increasing use of electricity. “One of the major causes of the recent spike in power use is the rise in use of electricity by households and buildings for air conditioning,” Choi said. “A 20 percent cut in the use of air conditioners and fans [in all households and buildings] will save 3 million kilowatts of electricity.” The five-point statement also advised people to turn off any unnecessary lights and to increase their use of public transportation to cut the country’s overall use of energy. “Energy conditions are not so favorable to us this summer, but we are confident we will overcome any problems if all our citizens combine their efforts,” it said. Choi said this year’s maximum power use is expected to surpass a record high of 73.14 million kilowatts in the second week of August, bringing down the country’s electricity reserve rate to less than 5.6 percent of its total supply capabilities, or 4.2 million kilowatts, far below the 7 percent level considered the safe margin and also the 6.4 percent reached last year. Once the reserve rate falls below 4 percent, the country has to take emergency measures to avoid a nationwide brownout. The 73.14 million kilowatt record was set on Jan. 17. Maximum demand in the summer is expected to reach 74.77 million kilowatts.