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연일 이어지는 개문냉방영업 단속에 상인들 사이에선 “차라리 과태료를 내고 문을 열겠다”는 볼멘소리가 나오고 있다.
중구청과 산업통상자원부 등이 합동으로 실시한 단속 3일째인 지난 3일, 큰 길가를 피한 명동 사이사이 골목에선 아직도 버젓이 문 열어놓고 에어컨을 틀고 있는 옷 가게들을 볼 수 있었다. 이 날 최고 온도는 31도였다.
한 옷 가게 여직원 김 모씨는 “여기 상인들에게 다 물어봐라. 문 열어 놓았을 땐 10명이 들어올게 문닫으면 5명이 들어오는데 차라리 과태료를 내는 게 더 이익이다. 차라리 몇 백 내고 손님을 더 들여야 하지 않겠냐”며 고충을 토로했다.
문 열어 놓은 가게에 들어가는 손님들 또한 이러한 개문냉방에 크게 개의치 않는 눈치였다.
문이 열려있던 가게에 들어간 손님은 “밖은 더운데 지나가다가 찬바람이 느껴지면 가끔 들어와서 쓱 돌아보고 가기도 한다”며 신경 쓰지 않는 듯한 모습을 보였다.
같은 지역, 화장품 가게를 운영하는 박 모 씨는 “이번 여름 내내 우리보고 이렇게 장사하라고 하는 거 다 받아들이면 올해 문 닫을지도 모른다. 전력난이 심각한건 알지만 문을 열고 장사하는지 닫고 장사하는지가 하루 수입을 결정하는데 어쩌겠냐”고 말했다.
정부는 에너지이용합리화 시행령에 따라 지난 7월 1일부터 출입문을 열고 냉방시설을 가동하는 가게에 최초 단속에는 경고장을 발급하고 반복될 시 최고 300만원의 과태료를 부과하겠다고 발표 했다.
이런 ‘배짱영업’이 계속되는 것에 대해 과태료 금액이 너무 낮다는 비판과 함께 단속을 담당하고 있는 구청의 인력부족도 하나의 문제점이라는 의견도 제기되고 있다.
종로구청의 한 관계자는 “단속은 다른 팀에서 합동해서 나가고 있지만 실질적인 업무를 담당하는 사람은 딱 한 명”이라며 “담당자가 이 일만 하는 것도 아닌데 맨날 오후에 단속 나가있으니 일을 할 수가 없다”라고 불만을 터트렸다.
강남구청도 상황은 마찬가지였다.
압구정동에 위치한 갤러리아 백화점 지하 푸드코너에서 “춥다”라는 손님들의 지적이 많은데, 단속을 나간 적이 있냐고 묻는 질문에 한 공무원은 유예 기간 중 6월 18일부터 7월 2일까지 “일단 언론이 몰린 강남역 근처에만 단속을 나갔다”고 말했다.
손님들을 위해 영업시간 내내 시원한 온도를 유지해야 하는 백화점에는 “새 에너지정책 홍보 목적으로만 방문했다고”도 덧붙였다.
지난 5월부터 멈춘 원자력 발전기 3대에 이어 지난 5일엔 한울 원전 5호기(설비용량 100만㎾)가 가동 정지 됐다. 엎친데 덮친격으로, 서울은 지난 6월 기온이 관측 이래 106년 만에 가장 높은 기록을 세운 것으로 알려졌다.
정부는 연간 에너지 사용량 2000TOE 이상 에너지다소비 건물 6개소와 계약전력 100KW이상인 전기다소비 업소를 대상으로 냉방온도를 26℃이상, 공공기관은 28℃ 이상을 유지토록 제한하고 있다.
산업통상자원부는 또 2836개 업체를 대상으로 8월5일부터 30일까지 오전 10~11시와 오후 2~5시 하루 4시간 동안 부하 변동률에 따라 전기 사용량을 3~15% 의무적으로 감축시겠다고 했다.
일반 가정도 7~8월 동안 전년 동월 대비 일정 비율 이상 전력 사용량을 줄이면 명월 전기요금을 할인받을 수 있다.
(석지현 기자/ 코리아헤럴드)
<관련 영문 기사>
Energy-saving drive wide off the mark
Businesses choose not to comply with regulations while government lacks manpower to enforce them
On a recent sizzling afternoon, several shops in Myeong-dong, downtown Seoul, kept their doors open, beckoning passers-by with cool air.
The government has banned the practice with a threat of penalties, but it apparently fails to pay off. Many merchants would rather pay fines than lose sales.
“Our sales drop over 50 percent when the doors are shut,” said Kim Ji-eun, a saleswoman at a boutique in the shopping district. “We’d choose to pay millions of won than see less profit.”
Customers do not seem too mindful, either.
“When it’s too hot outside and I feel cool air coming out from a store, I sometimes go into the shop to cool down and just look around,” Choi Yoon-seon, 23, said last Wednesday when the outdoor temperature reached 31 degrees Celsius.
The regulation is part of a sweeping energy-saving campaign led by the government as the nation strives to fend off the worst-ever electricity shortage.
The government began a crackdown on businesses leaving doors open while running air conditioning on July 1. First-time violators receive a warning and repeat offenders could face fines ranging from 500,000 won ($438) to 3 million won.
Yet district offices are also struggling with a lack of manpower to execute the new regulation.
“Only one person is in charge of handling the regulation in Jongno area,” an unnamed official from the Jongno District Office told The Korea Herald.
Yet district offices are also struggling with a lack of manpower to execute the new regulation.
“Only one person is in charge of handling the regulation in Jongno area,” an official from the Jongno District Office in central Seoul told The Korea Herald asking not to be named.
Dotted by tourist attractions, cram schools and office buildings, Jongno in central Seoul is one of the busiest areas among the 25 districts of the capital.
“He has many other environment-related tasks at hand but does not have time to do them since he always has to be out on the street to regulate those shops,” the official said.
The same holds true for the Gangnam district in southern Seoul.
“The official in charge does not have time to look around other than shops near Gangnam Station, where the media’s eyes are concentrated on,” an official in one of the nation’s most affluent areas said.
The official said during the grace period between June 18 and July 2, inspectors had rarely visited department stores, inside which customers constantly complain of being “too cold” even when the mercury flirts with 30 degrees.
“Galleria Department Store in Gangnam has been visited only once for promotional purposes,” he added.
Officials also complain that the amount of fines is not enough to force businesses to comply.
The nation suffers a double whammy of the hottest early summer since 1906 and what is expected to be the worst-ever power shortage, caused by the suspension of four nuclear reactors in the last three months.
The government has already issued several power warnings this summer and is struggling to keep the country’s power reserve above a safe level of 4 million kilowatts.
In response, the government has ordered public offices to cut power consumption by 15 percent in July and August.
Large buildings have to keep temperatures above 26 degrees Celsius and government offices, above 28 degrees.
Businesses are also encouraged to adjust operation times and are given incentives to use electricity during low-demand periods.
“If they continue to ask us to shut the doors and keep temperatures above 26 degrees the whole summer, we may have to shut our doors for the whole year,” said Park Jong-hak, the owner of a shoe store in Myeong-dong.
“We understand that the country is faced with a serious power shortage, but leaving doors open or closed really decides the profit of that day,” Park noted.
By Suk Gee-hyun
(monicasuk@heraldcorp.com)
Energy-saving drive wide off the mark
Businesses choose not to comply with regulations while government lacks manpower to enforce them
On a recent sizzling afternoon, several shops in Myeong-dong, downtown Seoul, kept their doors open, beckoning passers-by with cool air.
The government has banned the practice with a threat of penalties, but it apparently fails to pay off. Many merchants would rather pay fines than lose sales.
“Our sales drop over 50 percent when the doors are shut,” said Kim Ji-eun, a saleswoman at a boutique in the shopping district. “We’d choose to pay millions of won than see less profit.”
Customers do not seem too mindful, either.
“When it’s too hot outside and I feel cool air coming out from a store, I sometimes go into the shop to cool down and just look around,” Choi Yoon-seon, 23, said last Wednesday when the outdoor temperature reached 31 degrees Celsius.
The regulation is part of a sweeping energy-saving campaign led by the government as the nation strives to fend off the worst-ever electricity shortage.
The government began a crackdown on businesses leaving doors open while running air conditioning on July 1. First-time violators receive a warning and repeat offenders could face fines ranging from 500,000 won ($438) to 3 million won.
Yet district offices are also struggling with a lack of manpower to execute the new regulation.
“Only one person is in charge of handling the regulation in Jongno area,” an unnamed official from the Jongno District Office told The Korea Herald.
Yet district offices are also struggling with a lack of manpower to execute the new regulation.
“Only one person is in charge of handling the regulation in Jongno area,” an official from the Jongno District Office in central Seoul told The Korea Herald asking not to be named.
Dotted by tourist attractions, cram schools and office buildings, Jongno in central Seoul is one of the busiest areas among the 25 districts of the capital.
“He has many other environment-related tasks at hand but does not have time to do them since he always has to be out on the street to regulate those shops,” the official said.
The same holds true for the Gangnam district in southern Seoul.
“The official in charge does not have time to look around other than shops near Gangnam Station, where the media’s eyes are concentrated on,” an official in one of the nation’s most affluent areas said.
The official said during the grace period between June 18 and July 2, inspectors had rarely visited department stores, inside which customers constantly complain of being “too cold” even when the mercury flirts with 30 degrees.
“Galleria Department Store in Gangnam has been visited only once for promotional purposes,” he added.
Officials also complain that the amount of fines is not enough to force businesses to comply.
The nation suffers a double whammy of the hottest early summer since 1906 and what is expected to be the worst-ever power shortage, caused by the suspension of four nuclear reactors in the last three months.
The government has already issued several power warnings this summer and is struggling to keep the country’s power reserve above a safe level of 4 million kilowatts.
In response, the government has ordered public offices to cut power consumption by 15 percent in July and August.
Large buildings have to keep temperatures above 26 degrees Celsius and government offices, above 28 degrees.
Businesses are also encouraged to adjust operation times and are given incentives to use electricity during low-demand periods.
“If they continue to ask us to shut the doors and keep temperatures above 26 degrees the whole summer, we may have to shut our doors for the whole year,” said Park Jong-hak, the owner of a shoe store in Myeong-dong.
“We understand that the country is faced with a serious power shortage, but leaving doors open or closed really decides the profit of that day,” Park noted.
By Suk Gee-hyun
(monicasuk@heraldcorp.com)
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