EL7.AI
StocksMediumUpdated•Originally published 14 September 2026•Updated 14 September 2026•
2 min read

Samsung, SK Hynix Reject KEPCO's 25 Trillion-Won Grid-Funding Plan

Key Facts

1Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix rejected KEPCO's 25 trillion-won prepayment plan, split into 20 trillion won and 5 trillion won, respectively.
2The KEPCO plan covered about 5 years of electricity bills and would fund transmission lines and substations.
3The 2 Yongin semiconductor complexes will require more than 10 gigawatts by 2053.

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix rejected a Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) plan seeking 25 trillion won in prepaid electricity charges. The proposal divided the amount into 20 trillion won from Samsung and 5 trillion won from SK Hynix, equivalent to about 5 years of bills under KEPCO's estimates.

The companies reviewed the plan internally and told KEPCO that participation would be difficult, according to 2 Korean reports in which the utility confirmed receiving their refusals. The reports attributed the decision to the burden of tying up a large amount of cash and the companies' need to fund factory expansion and research and development.

KEPCO intended to use the prepayments for transmission lines and substations serving semiconductor complexes. The plan included a return above the yield on 2-year government bonds, with principal and interest recovered through electricity-bill deductions every 6 months.

The rejection means Samsung and SK Hynix will not currently lock a large portion of their liquidity into a 5-year arrangement. That preserves near-term financial flexibility, although it does not remove their need for power infrastructure to be completed in time for new investments.

For KEPCO, the rejection removes a potential source of grid funding that would not require additional bond issuance. KEPCO had about 210.7 trillion won of total debt at the end of June and daily interest costs of about 11.5 billion won, while a temporary expansion of its bond-issuance ceiling expires at the end of 2027.

The underlying power requirement remains: South Korea's industry ministry says the 2 semiconductor complexes in Yongin will need more than 10 gigawatts by 2053. With prepayment off the table, the next issue is how KEPCO and the government balance borrowing, public capital and electricity tariffs to finance the grid on schedule.