Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix refused to prepay $18 billion (25 trillion won) toward South Korea’s national power grid, exposing how regional exemptions could shift the connection costs behind Seoul’s AI data center push onto Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) and other electricity users.

KEPCO proposed that Samsung and SK Hynix pay $14.4 billion (20 trillion won) and $3.6 billion (5 trillion won) — roughly five years of electricity payments — respectively to help finance the grid serving the Yongin and Honam industrial clusters.

Both companies’ rejection of KEPCO’s proposal means that unless KEPCO manages to renegotiate with the two