Today, the Government is sending out a proposal to adjust the electricity subsidy scheme. As of today, the scheme only applies to year-round residences, and not leisure residences. – Households who, for various reasons, live permanently in holiday homes are subject to high electricity prices in line with other households. I am happy to be able to submit a regulatory proposal for consultation that will help to remedy the financial consequences for this group, says Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland (Ap). In other words: Those who live permanently in the cabin will receive the same electricity subsidy as other households in Norway. The adjustment applies to online customers who have a holiday home as their only home, and who have been registered as a home at their current address from 16 December 2021 at the latest. There are around 10,000 people who live in holiday homes in Norway. This means that the number of households is smaller. The ministry does not know specifically how many households will be covered by the proposal. NVE has estimated the cost of the proposal: somewhere between NOK 35 million and NOK 350 million. The ministry tells news that the extra cost will be taken over from the state budget. Facts about the proposal The proposed adjustment means that online customers who lost their electricity allowance in the autumn can now be paid this support, given that they meet the proposed criteria. For new online customers who are covered by the electricity subsidy scheme, the payments will apply from 1 January 2023. The government hereby proposes an extension of the electricity subsidy scheme to cover even more households. The adjustment in the electricity allowance scheme applies to online customers who have a holiday home as their only residence, and who are and have been resident and registered at their current address from 16 December 2021 at the latest. The online customers must report to the network company in order to receive electricity allowance. If the online company does not have the necessary access to the information in the Folkeregisteret, the online customers themselves must obtain documentation from the Tax Agency and pass this on to the online company. It is emphasized that this proposed regulation does not change the legality of using a holiday home as a permanent residence according to the Planning and Building Act. The proposal does not mean that the state has taken a position on the legality of the use, or that the municipalities are precluded from following up matters according to planning and building legislation. The consideration of including households in the electricity subsidy scheme must be weighed against, among other things, the consideration of correct compliance with requirements in the Planning and Building Act, and the proposal must be designed in a way that is suitable to avoid unwanted adaptations to the electricity subsidy scheme. According to the ministry’s assessment, there is a need to set down the criteria for identifying the relevant benefit recipients in the temporary regulations on electricity benefits. It is proposed that electricity allowance be given to online customers in a holiday home if it appears from the National Register that the online customer is and has been registered as a resident at their current address since the government put forward a proposal for a temporary electricity allowance scheme on 16 December 2021. According to the proposal, electricity allowance is initially granted for consumption from and including January 2023. – I am happy to be able to submit this proposal for consultation, says Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland (Ap). Photo: Gorm Kallestad / NTB The government has previously stated that it is challenging to identify “real cabin households” and include them in the electricity subsidy scheme without it becoming “administratively demanding” and increasing the risk of incorrect payments. The government’s latest move is in line with a unanimous December decision in the Energy and Environment Committee in the Storting to allow those who live permanently in holiday homes to receive electricity support. Raudt representative Sofie Marhaug stated in that context that the government interpreted the Electricity Subsidy Act too strictly when they left out those who live permanently in holiday homes. – The intent of the law implies that many of those who are in a gray area should receive support, she said. New cabins under construction in Holtardalen on Rauland. Photo: Håkon Eliassen / news Record year for moving to the cabin Figures from the tax office show that at the end of September, there were 1,945 people who had applied to live permanently in the cabin. More recent figures are not available. In comparison, there were 2,169 people who applied for a change of address to a holiday home during the whole of 2021. – This indicates that moving to the cottage will reach a new peak year in 2022, says Ernst Larsen of the Tax Agency. The big jump came during the pandemic, but increased electricity prices made people move last year as well. – The pandemic and power support have motivated people to report a change of address to the cabin. Before 2020, this has not been a major topic, says Anders Leisner, who is head of legal member advice in Huseigerane. According to statistics from Statistics Norway, there will be around 445,500 holiday homes registered in Norway in 2022. Couldn’t move to the cabin It is up to each individual municipality whether people are allowed to permanently move to the cabin. The married couple Sølvi Sve and Åge Wallentinsen from Fana in Bergen were refused by Lærdal when they applied to live permanently in the cottage in the municipality. – We had hoped for a different outcome, but we accepted the decision and still had a good time, say the couple. The Planning and Building Act requires that the advantages must be “clearly greater than the disadvantages” if the holiday home is to be given the status of a year-round home. – It is for practical reasons. WE must be able to offer the same services to all residents, and it can be demanding if you live in the middle of a mountain, says the mayor of Lærdal, Audun Mo (Ap). Planning and Building Act § 19-2. Dispensation resolution The municipality may grant a permanent or temporary dispensation from provisions laid down in or pursuant to this Act. Conditions can be set for the dispensation. A dispensation cannot be granted if the considerations behind the provision from which it is dispensated, the considerations in the law’s purpose provision or national or regional interests, are substantially disregarded. The advantages of granting a dispensation must clearly outweigh the disadvantages. It cannot be exempted from procedural rules. In the case of dispensation from the Act and the regulations to the Act, particular emphasis must be placed on the consequences of the dispensation for health, the environment, soil protection, safety and accessibility. In regulations, the Ministry can provide rules for the scope of dispensations and set deadlines for processing dispensation cases, including setting deadlines for other authorities’ statements in dispensation cases and provide rules on the calculation of deadlines, access to deadline extensions and consequences of exceeding deadlines. The couple were not allowed to live in the cabin in Gramstølen because it was on the mountain. Photo: Jan Christian Jerving Different practices in municipalities But what if the cabin was a few kilometers east in another municipality? so it is difficult to answer yes or no to that, says mayor Vidar Elthun. During the pandemic, several people moved permanently to the cabin in Vang municipality. In Hemsedal municipality, there were between 50–100 who wished to change their address last year. – We are basically positive in the areas that we have defined as urgent, says mayor Pål Terje Rørby. Vang mayor Vidar Elthun wants to make it easier for people to move permanently to the cabin in the future. – We would like more residents, but it is an extensive process. We will now go through the area plan and see which areas are our own, he says.
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Now those who live in the cabin will receive electricity support – news Vestland
