Getting Help with Heating and Cooling Bills: Energy Voucher and KEPCO Welfare Discounts

The diagram below is a self-made illustration, not a real screen.

Unlike the energy cashback program (save, then get money back), these two programs directly pay or discount your bills if you qualify.

Who this suits

• Households receiving livelihood, medical, housing, or education benefits (Energy Voucher)
• People with disabilities, basic livelihood recipients, near-poverty households, families with many children, large or new-birth households (KEPCO discount)

1. 2026 Energy Voucher

Based on Korea Energy Agency, the Energy Voucher site, and Gov24.

Eligibility: households meeting both

• Income: receiving at least one of livelihood, medical, housing, or education benefits
• Household trait: you or a household member is a senior (born on or before 1961-12-31), a preschool child (born 2019-01-01 or later), a registered person with a disability, pregnant or within 6 months after birth, a patient with a severe, rare, or severe intractable disease, a single-parent family, a child-headed household (incl. foster children), or a household with 2+ children under 19
• Excluded: households where all members receive benefits inside a care facility

Amount (2026 total, not monthly): 1 person 295,200 won / 2 people 407,500 / 3 people 532,700 / 4+ people 701,300 won.

• If you take coal-briquette coupons, the briquette-conversion voucher, or emergency winter fuel aid, you get only a smaller summer amount.

Apply: June 15 – December 31, 2026. Use: July 1, 2026 – May 31, 2027 (winter: virtual card from Oct 1, physical card from Oct 3).

How it’s paid (choose one):

• Bill deduction (virtual card): taken off electricity, city gas, or district heating bills
• National Happiness Card (physical card): pay for electricity, city gas, kerosene, LPG, or briquettes

How to apply:

• At your local community service center (읍·면·동 행정복지센터)
• Online via Bokjiro (after login)
• Relatives can apply for someone with limited mobility, or an official can apply with consent
• 2025 recipients with no change in status are re-registered automatically. Check with the center or the voucher helpline (1600-3190).

Documents: application form (at the center). For bill deduction, a recent utility bill (or apartment management bill).

New: briquette-conversion voucher: a flat 576,000 won for eligible households that switched from a briquette boiler after January 2026, usable Oct 3, 2026 – May 31, 2027.

2. KEPCO electricity welfare discount

Based on Gov24 (agency: KEPCO, updated 2026-08-14). Monthly caps for residential/general service.

| Who | Monthly cap (summer) |
|—|—|
| Severe disability, wounded veterans grade 1–3, independence patriots | 16,000 won (20,000) |
| Livelihood/medical benefit recipients | 16,000 won (20,000) |
| Housing/education benefit recipients | 10,000 won (12,000) |
| Near-poverty group | 8,000 won (10,000) |
| 3+ children, 5+ household members, new-birth households (residential) | 30% off, capped at 16,000 won |
| Households using life-support devices (residential) | 30% off |

• Apply anytime: KEPCO ON (after sign-up and login), KEPCO call center 123, a KEPCO branch, or your community service center
• If you consent to sharing your own records when applying through KEPCO, you don’t need to submit eligibility papers for veteran, disability, recipient, or near-poverty status.
• The discount starts with the month you apply. It stops the month after you move or lose eligibility.

Common mistakes

• Assuming the voucher arrives on its own (new applicants must apply by December 31)
• Wanting to save it all for winter but not asking to skip summer deductions
• Forgetting the KEPCO discount, which is a separate program

Checklist

• ☐ Confirm benefit type and household traits
• ☐ Apply for the voucher before December 31
• ☐ Choose bill deduction or the card
• ☐ Check the KEPCO discount (call 123)

To get money back for saving energy, see our energy cashback and carbon points guide.

We also have a $4.99 PDF guide that collects more everyday money-saving tips. Take a look if it’s useful →