Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) has entered an emergency operation mode to ensure flawless, blackout-free power supply at all polling and counting stations nationwide ahead of the 9th simultaneous local elections and by-elections to be held on Tuesday, the company announced Monday.
KEPCO has established a "quadruple power system" at every counting station to prepare for any contingencies that may arise on election day. In addition to the standard main power source and temporary backup power, the system automatically activates emergency generators and an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) in case of an emergency. The setup is designed to ensure that vote-counting operations are not interrupted even in the event of a sudden blackout.
Extensive pre-inspections to prevent power outages during the election period have also been carried out. From late April through about a month, KEPCO conducted special inspections and maintenance work, including thermal imaging diagnostics, on the electrical facilities of 18,390 election-related sites nationwide, including polling stations, counting stations, and election commission offices, to verify their condition. The company also conducted final checks on UPS facilities for IT equipment such as ballot-issuing machines at polling stations, as well as the installation status of emergency lights that automatically turn on during power outages.
KEPCO will operate a 24-hour comprehensive situation room from 5 a.m. on election day until the conclusion of vote counting. A total of 6,607 employees nationwide will be deployed on emergency duty, and a multi-faceted emergency response system will be activated, including special patrols of power supply lines, deployment of expert personnel at counting stations, and standby teams for emergency restoration.
To prepare for unexpected power outages, KEPCO will also pre-position restoration materials near sites and establish an emergency mobilization system together with 1,608 partner company employees to accelerate recovery efforts.
On the same day, CEO Kim Dong-cheol and other executives personally visited major power facility sites to inspect power supply preparations and urged staff to ensure that there are no disruptions to stable power supply during the election period.
