Today, the price of electricity reached a new peak. The price is a staggering NOK 4.23 per kilowatt hour for electricity customers living in Rogaland, Agder, Vestfold and Telemark, as well as parts of Buskerud. Tor Reier Lilleholt, head of analysis at Value Insight, has clear advice. – Save money for winter bills. Then it could be even more expensive than today. As much as NOK 6, the expert believes. Significantly higher bill A normal detached house uses an average of 1,333 kilowatt hours per month, according to Statistics Norway. If the electricity price of NOK 4.23 per kWh had lasted a whole month, this would have amounted to more than NOK 5,600 a month. An electricity price of NOK 6 for a whole month would have increased the price to NOK 7,998. The bill for ordinary households would nevertheless be significantly lower, since the state pays 80 per cent when the average market price is over 70 øre per kilowatt hour. However, the electricity subsidy does not apply to cabins. ALMOST WITHOUT ELECTRICITY: Kari and Inge Eskeland do not use electricity for much more than cooking and charging the phone in the cabin. Photo: Odin Omland / news Sending the grandchild into the stream to shower Inge and Kari Eskeland from Sunnmøre live practically without electricity when they are at Inge’s family cabin at Bersagel in Sandnes. In the cabin, they have banned washing clothes, they fire wood in the evening and there is a ban on showering. Yes, they actually send their grandchildren down the stream or into the lake to swim. – We have a ban on great frustration for family and friends. We don’t have the finances to keep heating up. That’s how it is this summer, says Kari. – Unfair Head of Analysis Tor Lilleholt is worried about the consequences the high prices can have, especially for small businesses. This Thursday, there is a smell of fresh shilling buns in the bakery at Gvarv in Telemark. But that may come to an end. Everything has become more expensive, says general manager Lene Østerdal. The flour, shipping and electricity. The price of the shilling bowl is NOK 28 now. If all that is to be covered, it may have to rise to NOK 35–40 for it to be worthwhile. FEAR LAYOFFS: General manager Lene Østerdal at Gvarv bakery says they are vulnerable now. Photo: Lars Tore Endresen / news Østerdal has been at work since midnight. Now she fears working days of 16 hours. – If we have to lay off because of electricity prices, then I have to be in the shop too, she says. She thinks the situation is unfair. They also do not receive power support. – We are not in control of the conditions around us, she says, and adds that she has a lump in her stomach now. Fears bankruptcies and lost jobs The bakery is far from alone in worrying about the high prices. County mayor Terje Riis-Johansen (Sp) in Vestfold and Telemark receives daily inquiries from traders who fear that they will have to close down their business. – It is a serious and critical situation, he says. He also points out that there is skewed competition when electricity prices are so variable depending on where in the country you are. FEAR BANKRUPTCY: Terje Riis-Johansen was himself energy minister from 2008–2011. Photo: Lars Tore Endresen / news Big differences Head of analysis Tor Reier Lilleholt has followed the electricity markets in Europe closely for 20 years. He has never seen such different prices as what we have right now in Norway. In Western Norway and in the upper part of Eastern Norway, the price is half of what it is in the south. While north of Dovre the electricity is almost free. ALMOST SIX NOK: This is the electricity price a customer in the south-west region can expect tonight Photo: Screen dump The extremely high prices in the southernmost region of southern Norway are just a foreshadowing of what people and businesses in Western Norway and the other parts of Eastern Norway can expect to be expected, according to Lilleholt. He explains that prices will also increase in the west and east when electricity consumption increases in the autumn. Hoping for a wet autumn The head of analysis sees no quick solution to the problem. – First of all, there must be more water in the reservoirs. We can hope for a wet autumn and a lot of snow for the winter. Lilleholt says the war in Ukraine is the main reason for the high electricity prices. – The war has clearly shown the energy crisis Europe is in. He further believes that the foreign cables are only a small piece in the whole. – We have exported less than last year, he points out.
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New power record today – it will stay like this for a long time, says expert – news Vestfold and Telemark – Local news, TV and radio
