Nine pools with more than 5 million liters of water will be heated. Electricity costs have nearly doubled for Drammensbadet, one of the country’s largest bathing facilities. Now the warning lights are flashing. – We are in a difficult situation. We must try to reduce costs, but must also consider higher ticket prices, says general manager Kristina Vinda. After two years of low visitor numbers during the pandemic, electricity prices threaten to result in a loss of millions for the municipally owned bath. – We cannot continue in this way, says the pool manager, who will present the miserable figures to the board of Drammensbadet in a few days. The general manager at Drammensbadet, Kristina Vinda, says higher ticket prices may be a result of the high electricity prices. Photo: Rubina Butt / news – One thing is heating the pools. We can have a thousand visitors in a day, and everyone has to shower twice. It goes without saying that it will be expensive. Will not lower the temperature In addition to the high electricity prices, Vinda fears that people will not be able to afford to visit the bathing facility in the future. – I’m excited to see if families with tight finances will be able to afford to use Drammensbadet in the future, says Vinda. – Could it be relevant to lower the temperature in the pools or in the shower system? – We have discussed it, but I don’t think it will be relevant. We have a public health and social mission. Many people with rheumatic diseases benefit greatly from our hot pools. Lowering the temperature in the shower will lead to poorer hygiene, says Vinda. Action required – In the first 7 months of this year, we had as high electricity costs as in the whole of last year. Now the politicians have to do something, says general manager at Østfoldbadet, Christine Aannerud. She says that they have taken several steps to reduce consumption, but that what they can do is limited. General manager Christine Aannerud at Østfoldbadet is asking the politicians for help in dealing with electricity prices. Photo: Private – We will stay open. Raising prices is not relevant, says Aannerud. She has little to spare for the politicians’ signals about giving loans to business, as part of a package of measures. – We have been through a pandemic with shutdowns. We need support, not higher debt, says Aannerud. Energy-intensive bathing facilities all over the country have ended up in the same situation. Some report a quadrupling of electricity expenses. Others have already had to close their doors. Fear of closed doors – Out of 35 swimming facilities, only 7 are making a profit. Everyone who operates in this industry south of Trondheim is worried now, says Erik Schreuder. He is chairman of Badedalende, an interest organization for those who run bathing facilities in Norway. Schreuder is particularly concerned about the privately owned water parks. Erik Schreuder is the chairman of Badedalende. Photo: Askerbadet / Private – All the big water parks are probably steering towards a deficit of millions. They will never be able to cover this with higher ticket prices, says Schreuder, who is himself the general manager at Røykenbadet, talking about the extreme differences in costs between the south and the north. – A colleague of mine who runs a water park in Harstad paid one penny for the kilowatt hour. I had to pay NOK 3.27, he says. According to Schreuder, there is pessimism ahead of the Storting’s emergency meeting on electricity measures on Monday next week. – I fear that more people will have to close their doors if no action is taken. The municipal baths may have to consider closing down parts of the offer. They have statutory tasks such as rehabilitation and school swimming, he says.
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Badeland struggles with high electricity prices and hopes for an electricity package for business – news Oslo and Viken – Local news, TV and radio
