“Reminder – have you forgotten to freeze the electricity price?” This is how the email Fortum sent out to customers on 21 October began. They would offer customers a fixed price of NOK 5.72 for November and December. By then, the electricity price had already fallen sharply from the peak level in the autumn. Around this time, the company itself was able to buy electricity in the market for November at NOK 2.60 and NOK 3.20 for December, according to electricity analyst Tor Reier Lilleholt in Volue. The figures apply before value added tax in southern Norway. Can earn thousands a month from each customer If you then add the value added tax for this, the price will be NOK 3.70 on average in purchase price. Lilleholt has calculated that the profit on the fixed price must have been around NOK 2 per customer if the electricity was pre-purchased then. Tor Reier Lilleholt is a power analyst at Volue. Photo: Sondre Steen Holvik – There is actually a 55 percent markup. It’s absolutely insane. This is a rather extreme markup. But we see that these prices fluctuate enormously at the moment, he exclaims on the phone as he looks at the calculation. The profit from a customer who uses 1,500 kilowatt hours a month means that the company earns NOK 3,000, given the math. news has asked questions about the agreement to communications manager Kristian Myrseth in Fortum. – How would you comment on the large profit? – The Prisfrys service has no margin on power consumption, only on the fixed link. The purchase of futures contracts is a complex process that takes time and includes more factors than the system price, in addition VAT must be factored into the price, he says. Lilleholt has taken VAT into account in the calculation. Allows customers to opt out of the agreement news has spoken to a Fortum customer who took up the offer, and wonders if he can get out of the fixed price. He also currently does not receive electricity support on the price because the spot price is too low. In the email he received, there was nothing about a cooling-off period. On Thursday, Los withdrew an agreement because the customers were not clearly informed enough about the cancellation period, as the Right of Cancellation Act imposes on companies. Now Fortum is also following suit. – Prisfrys customers have a 14-day right of withdrawal when purchasing the service. We are now in an extraordinary situation, and we fully understand that customers may want out of the current freezing period, says Myrseth to news, and continues: – In light of the extraordinary situation we are now in, we have chosen to remove the requirement that the customer must buy out of the current freezing period, he says. – In that case, it will not be possible to go back again if prices should rise. As it has proven difficult to predict price developments, we will be cautious in recommending the best course of action. Each individual must assess that for themselves.
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Fortum sold fixed price at NOK 5.72 – allows customers to opt out of the agreement – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
