A third version of the ultra-wide-area special zone bill is moving forward, this one proposing to extend power purchase agreements, or PPAs, to non-renewable energy sources and to cut electricity bills for companies in the zones. With the Democratic Party already preparing two versions of the legislation that differ on whether labor exemptions apply, a member of the National Assembly's Industry, Trade, Energy and SMEs Committee is now drafting a separate bill. At its core are tangible investment incentives, including lower energy costs and preferential enrollment as alternative-service industrial personnel.
Rep. Jung Jin-wook of the Democratic Party, a member of the industry committee, is preparing to file a mega zone bill centered on these provisions, political sources said on the 20th. The bill is expected to be submitted as early as next week.
The bill would expand the PPA system, currently available only to renewable energy producers under existing law, to sources such as liquefied natural gas cogeneration. The aim is to offset the intermittency of renewables, whose output fluctuates with weather conditions, and to broaden options to include non-renewable sources capable of supplying power steadily. For semiconductor manufacturing in particular, which requires both enormous amounts of electricity and high-temperature steam, direct energy supply from cogeneration plants could improve process efficiency.
The bill also includes energy support measures to ease cost burdens. Companies operating in the mega zones would receive discounts of up to 50% on electricity bills and exemptions from the electric power industry infrastructure fund levy. The provisions reflect the view that successive increases in industrial electricity rates in recent years have pushed cost burdens for power-intensive advanced manufacturers to their limits, according to sources.
Alternative military service incentives are also being pursued to address chronic hiring difficulties at companies based outside the capital region. The bill is expected to include a legal basis for preferential treatment when employees at designated companies within the zones that operate strategic industries are enrolled as industrial technical personnel. The measure is designed to stem the outflow of young talent to the Seoul metropolitan area and encourage skilled workers to settle into key regional industries for the long term.
With another bill emerging from within the industry committee, the Democratic Party faces intensive internal negotiations over three separate versions of the legislation. The party's National Policy Committee, which was assigned to review the mega zone bill, plans to file a version that includes an exemption from the 52-hour workweek cap, while Rep. Choi Ki-sang, the opposition liaison on the National Assembly's Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee, plans to file a version without such exemptions. Jung's bill is expected to include labor exemptions.
The Democratic Party says it will not set a deadline for passing the legislation and will focus instead on building social consensus. "We will go through sufficient deliberation and debate," Han Byung-do, the party's floor leader, said on the same day. "Since this involves tasks spanning multiple ministries and standing committees that must be resolved together, we will actively consider establishing a special committee in the National Assembly."