– The government should admit that it was very wrong to make electricity a pure market commodity. We must have regulation of trade with foreign countries. The foreign cables have given us German prices in Norway, says Giske to news. He now leads the largest local team in the Labor Party. In this interview, he takes a controversial stand with Norwegian energy policy, a policy he himself has helped design as a minister in several governments. – We hear from our members and voters that the electricity package is good, but that something must be done about the problem itself: You must have a social democratic policy, says Giske and continues: – We built power plants so that people and businesses would have clean and cheap energy . Not so that the power companies would make the greatest possible profit. Join Giske We are in a lush backyard in the center of Oslo, where the controversial former Ap deputy leader meets one of the summer’s many newly registered members of Nidaro’s social democratic forum. The meeting came about at news’s initiative, but 76-year-old Anne-Grete Olaussen is completely in line with Giske on the issue of energy policy. Trond Giske receives full support from Anne-Grete Olaussen in the settlement with the energy policy that has been carried out in Norway until now. Photo: Gerd Johanne Braadland / news – Energy must be available to the entire population. Regardless of income base, we must be confident that we have the electricity we need for normal, daily needs, says Olaussen, who has voted for the Labor Party all his life. She has a fixed price agreement and emphasizes that she herself is not suffering any hardship, but the commitment is nevertheless great. – Power support is good, but it does not solve the fundamental problem. We have too little control over our power resources, which the Norwegian people jointly own, says the 76-year-old. The Labor Party’s articles of association allow you to be a member of a local team outside your own municipality, and Olaussen had no doubt that she would join Giske. – They pursue a policy that is in line with what I believe in being a social democrat. – You couldn’t find a local team that suited here in Oslo? – No I did not do that. Strong growth The tiny local team Nidaros in Trondheim had only nine members last autumn. Giske then took over as manager in November. – We have now passed 800 members. We became the largest local team in the early summer when we passed 600 members, but there have been a couple of hundred more during the summer, he says. – Does that mean that you are almost twice as big as the second largest local team in the Labor Party? – Sure, we have gained a lot of members and are actually the size of the largest municipal parties. – How is it that so many people do not live in Trondheim? – The majority are from Trondheim, but during the summer we gained around 100 members from the eastern region. Almost everyone has the same rationale: They want stronger regulation of the electricity market. Trond Giske traveled around with a caravan in the election campaign last year. It was made into a movie. Photo: Håvard Bustnes / Storytelling Media, UpNorth. Social democratic solutions When news asks what Giske wants to achieve with the mandate from the members of Nidaros and whether it is relevant for him to stand again as a candidate for the Storting or a leading party position, he answers as follows: – It is not relevant today, anyway. Someone has asked if I will become mayor of Trondheim, and I will definitely not apply. I will run my local team. – You must have a social democratic policy to bring down electricity prices, says Trond Giske. He is calling for action from his own government. Photo: Gerd Johanne Braadland / news – Do you feel this is revenge on your own behalf? – No, I feel like I’m back where I feel most comfortable: Together with members in organization building, making good political decisions and shaping the future. I think a good part of the frustration that many people experience is related to not being heard, not having influence and not being taken seriously. The local team Nidaros will help ensure that they become that. – Do you think the Ap leadership is equally happy about the growth in membership? – Yes, I would like to think so. That it flows to members who want to build the party politically at a time when we have opinion polls of less than 20 percent, that must be a great joy. – What is your message to Støre right now? – It is understood that compensation packages are good, but that the social democratic solution goes deeper. We must return to where power is a social good that is used as an input factor in the rest of the business world and ensures clean and cheap electricity for the population, not a mere stock exchange and market commodity. – And he hasn’t understood that? – I think he probably understands that, but there hasn’t been enough action. Thinks Giske is wrong The Labor Party chooses to let Oil and Energy Minister Terje Lien Aasland respond to the criticism from Giske. When asked if the Labor Party leadership is happy about the increase in membership in Nidaros, he answers as follows: – I am happy for all new members in the Labor Party. We want to be a strong organization and movement, so I am very happy about that. But Aasland does not share Giske’s reasoning. – It is too easy to conclude that the market is not working based on the situation we are in now. The prices reflect a serious reality: Too little power is produced, says Aasland. Oil and Energy Minister Terje Lien Aasland (Ap) believes that Trond Giske is mixing up two matters and is coming to facile conclusions. Photo: Lise Åserud He believes Giske is mixing the same two problems, security of supply and electricity prices. Aasland points out that the government has already signaled that there will be export restrictions when the water reservoirs go to low levels. – At the same time, the government is working to solve the price challenge. The only thing that works in the longer term is more power production, more networks and more energy efficiency. Aasland is surprised that Giske is calling for a social democratic energy policy. – The power system is fundamentally social democratic since the power resources are owned by the people, and we have political control over where and how we will develop new power. We are reaping the value of this system in a way we would not if the resources were, for example, owned by Chinese owners, he says. – Like airing in the living room Figures from Statnett show that power exports out of Norway have been particularly large in the northernmost parts of the country. Currently, there is actually a net import of electricity to the southernmost price range, which is unusual for the time of year, says communications manager Christer Gilje. For Trond Giske, the matter is nevertheless simple. Without control of the power trade with foreign countries, increased power production or domestic energy efficiency measures will have no effect on the price of electricity. He compares it to ventilation in the living room: It doesn’t help to buy more panel ovens if you don’t close the veranda door when it gets too cold. – What do you say to those who believe that the export of power does not have that much importance for electricity prices in Norway? – It is obviously wrong. We have had an explosion in prices. And it is said that it is due to the Ukraine crisis and that Germany and the continent have received much higher prices. But why have we not received the same high price in Trøndelag and Northern Norway? Yes, because these parts of the country are not connected to the same market through foreign cables. – It is the cables that make the price the same in southern Norway as in Germany, and sometimes higher, he continues. Self-criticism? Trond Giske was central to the Labor Party for a number of years before he resigned as Ap deputy leader at the beginning of 2018. He has been a minister in several governments, including in the government that at the time decided to build new foreign relations. – Like many others, I could probably have argued even more strongly against foreign cables, but I voted against Acer when we had it under consideration. – Supporters of power cables say the foreign connections help to strengthen the security of supply in Norway. Do you agree with that? – One thing we should stop saying is that we should cut the cables. No one is suggesting that. We have had cables to foreign countries for many, many decades, without having these high prices. We should not have built the last two cables, but they have been built. It is not that the cables exist that is the problem, but the use of them. – How solidary is it for Norway to cut off the energy supply to Europe when there is war in Ukraine and Putin is shutting down gas supplies? – We export perhaps 10-15 terawatt hours a year. Europe uses perhaps 3,500 terawatt hours a year. You don’t need to have attended economics school to understand that Norwegian exports mean nothing to the price in Europe. What we can contribute is Norwegian gas, to replace the Russian gas. Not enough – The government has said that they will come up with export restrictions when the degree of filling in the water reservoirs reaches a certain level. Isn’t this exactly what you’re asking for? – It is a step in the right direction. But in the long run it is not enough. Because when the degree of filling increases, the electricity will still be sent out on the same market, which now has very high prices. If we want to have lower prices in Norway than in the countries around us, then we must have a firm regulation of foreign trade. – How exactly are you going to limit the export of power? – By giving NVE and Statnett the task of providing clean and affordable energy for consumers, long-term and stable, not the largest possible profit for the power companies. It must be a societal mission to create cheap electricity for people and businesses in Norway.
ttn-69
Power rebels in Ap flock to Giske – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
