Daily NK has exclusively obtained the full text of North Korea’s revised Act on Small and Medium-Sized Power Stations, revealing how the energy-starved nation has significantly overhauled its power infrastructure regulations since the law was first enacted in 2007.
The updated legislation represents Pyongyang’s ambitious attempt to stabilize the country’s chronically unreliable electricity grid through enhanced energy management systems, more rigorous power oversight mechanisms, and diversification of energy sources. The revamped law also introduces a comprehensive framework of specific penalties and enforcement measures to regulate North Korea’s struggling power sector.
According to Article 2, small and medium-sized power stations are defined as “power stations that are fueled by several kinds of energy resources, including hydropower, coal, tidal energy, solar energy, wind energy and biomatter.”
The inclusion of solar energy and biomatter represents a significant departure from the original text. Additionally, the broader term “energy resources” now replaces the more limited “power resources” phrasing used previously. These changes appear designed to expand North Korea’s electricity generation capacity by embracing a wider variety of energy sources, including biomass.
Hwang Hyun-uk, senior researcher at Daily NK’s AND Center, explained that the revised act “definitely incorporates new sources of renewable energy, such as solar energy and biomass, into the category of small and medium-sized power stations.”
“Replacing the phrase ‘power resources’ with ‘energy resources’ represents an attempt to modernize the concept of energy and make it more comprehensive,” Hwang noted.
Another notable change appears in Article 4, where the term “operating system” has been replaced with “integrated power management system” — a long-standing goal of the North Korean government. This revision appears to create a legal foundation for the regime’s policy of centralized and efficient power management.
This integrated system oversees power stations and transformers connected to the national grid, provincial and local power transmission networks, and electricity distribution to factories and enterprises nationwide. By including this language, the government signals its intention to bring small and medium-sized power stations under central management control.
The revised law also features a new section (Article 8) that explicitly defines who falls under its jurisdiction. The law now clearly applies not only to agencies, enterprises, and organizations involved in building or operating these power stations but also to individual citizens.
“It was basically assumed that the law (enacted in 2007) applied to all agencies, enterprises, organizations and citizens. But the revised law includes a section specifying its scope in an attempt to reduce legal confusion,” Hwang explained.
Significantly, Article 8 states that “matters not covered in this law will be governed in accordance with relevant regulations.”
“The apparent intention here is to define the relationship with other laws, including the Electric Power Law and rules governing fees for electricity usage,” according to Hwang.
Perhaps the most substantial revisions appear in the sections addressing liability and punishment. Article 51 now states that “parties that cause damage to other agencies, enterprises, organizations or citizens through violations of this law will be civilly liable for penalties and damages.” The original version only mentioned criminal and administrative punishments without addressing civil liability.
The updated law also provides much more specific fine structures. While the original text dealt with penalties in general terms, the revision prescribes exact amounts for various violations. This suggests an effort to reduce ambiguity in punishment for actions affecting the state power grid and to establish clearer liability frameworks.
For example, the law now specifies that falsifying power generation reports will result in fines of 1-1.5 million won for organizations; wasting electricity carries penalties of 500,000-1.5 million won for institutions and 30,000-100,000 won for individuals; and unauthorized power usage (“double dipping”) incurs fines of 700,000-1 million won for organizations and 40,000-70,000 won for citizens.
“In contrast to the vague and general provisions of the 2007 text, the revised version features detailed stipulations about civil, administrative and criminal liability, including specific fines and suspensions,” Hwang observed.
“But it remains to be seen to what extent these fines and administrative measures will actually be implemented, as well as whether North Korea has the fiscal and technical resources needed for protecting the environment and upgrading its facilities,” Hwang concluded.
March 04, 2025 at 01:15PM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)