– In the very short term, political measures are needed that can alleviate the situation we are in, says Eggum to news. For 2022, it was a lean year for employees: Extreme price growth ate up wage growth – and rightly so. To prevent the same thing from happening again, Fellesforbundet leader Jørn Eggum, who also sits on the Labor Party’s central board, is now asking the government for help: Put in place a better electricity subsidy scheme, so that most people can pay their bills. – If we get a hand calculation that means that our members pay less of their income for electricity, because they get more coverage from the state, it will affect the financial requirements we make at this year’s settlement, says Eggum. He will play one of the main roles when the Confederation will enter wage negotiations with Norsk Industri in a couple of months. – There is a time now until the salary settlement where it is important for us that we see that we have a powerful government, says Eggum. He recalls that the electricity subsidy made up 0.8 per cent of the financial framework in last year’s salary settlement. The union’s settlement with Norsk Industri ended at 3.7 per cent, while prices rose by 5.9 per cent last year. Without the electricity subsidy, the price increase would have been much higher. PROPOSAL: The union’s leader Jørn Eggum is asking the government for help ahead of the spring wage settlement. Photo: William Jobling / news Two concrete proposals And here are the concrete proposals from the LO summit: Change the electricity subsidy scheme so that it is based on a consumption-weighted average for each hour in one month, and not an unweighted average for the month. – Today we see that the price is systematically higher during the hours when most people consume electricity: at night it is cheaper than during the day when we eat breakfast or charge the electric car. Then the real power subsidy the government has will be lower than it might appear, says Eggum. Increase the electricity subsidy to 100 per cent subsidy over 70 øre. – Now we have filled up our magazines. The uncertainty for security of supply is not present. Then we can increase the electricity subsidy to 100 per cent above 70 øre, i.e. a maximum price of 70 øre and that the state will take it over, says the head of the Federation. Eggum points out that high price growth hits those with the lowest incomes the hardest, because they spend a relatively high proportion of their income on essential goods such as food and electricity. – Complicated In the current system, consumers in the winter months get 90 per cent of their bill covered when the electricity price on average exceeds 70 øre during a month. VAT is then excluded. But according to news’s sources, the government is now considering changing this, so that support is given for every single hour or every day the electricity price exceeds 70 øre. This is therefore in line with Eggum’s proposal. A central point in the government’s work is to put in place an arrangement that is easier to communicate. It must also be an arrangement that stands up over time. – It will probably be possible to change to a support rate per hour. But it will be more complicated for the network companies to handle, and will probably take some time to put in place, says NVE CEO Kjetil Lund to news. COMPLICATED: Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland (Ap) together with NVE CEO Kjetil Lund during Arendal Week last autumn. Photo: Ole Berg-Rusten / NTB He points out that the current system is easy to administer, and that people can easily check that they have received the correct amount. The NVE chief also points to other advantages of the current arrangement, which was implemented just over a year ago. – Today’s system with an average price contributes to energy savings in that customers are exposed to the price peaks and benefit from shifting consumption to hours where the price is lower. Customers also do not know what the support rate will be until the end of the month, which contributes to energy savings throughout the month, says Lund. – Working on the case Forces in LO and within the governing parties have argued for a long time that the electricity subsidy for households should be adjusted. Before the weekend, several sources openly confirmed to news that this is something the government is working on. LO leader Peggy Hessen Følsvik says the work with the electricity subsidy was mentioned during a meeting with Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland (Ap) and NHO in the ministry last Wednesday. – Now, Aasland confirmed today that they are looking at possible adaptations, so that the scheme can work better in the situation we are in now, with large variations in electricity prices, she said. Aasland commented on Følsvik’s statements as follows: – When the average price is high, the electricity subsidy is high. But whether we can make it more relevant, we are looking at and assessing now. The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy did not want to comment on the proposals from the Swedish Confederation’s leader Jørn Eggum on Sunday evening. The ministry refers to Aasland’s comments about the electricity subsidy to NTB on Friday. – There are no new changes on the stairs, Aasland said then.
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LO-topp proposes a maximum price of 70 øre – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
