It was supposed to be 30 degrees and a red-hot oven in the glass workshop in Stine Hoff’s garden in Bergen. Instead, it’s cold and gray. In June, she switched off the oven to save electricity. As it stands, she can’t turn it back on. – The way it has become now, it is completely unsustainable for me to continue. The situation for all artisans throughout southern Norway is serious due to the high electricity prices. Made it through the corona pandemic She has run for herself for 30 years. Now she fears having to shut down if she does not get electricity support. Bergens Tidende has previously written about the situation of the glassblower. In a normal year, heating the oven has cost her around NOK 6,000. With today’s electricity prices, she would spend NOK 57,000 to keep the oven running this month. – I made it through the whole pandemic in one piece, even though it was really tough without government support. That it would be the power crisis that might stop me is a completely unreal situation. A third have closed down. Normally, she should have stood and blown glass in the middle of the day. Today, she rather packs glass that she blew when electricity prices were lower. The oven, which takes three days to turn on, must be left on around the clock. She therefore had no choice but to turn it off. There are over 30 glass cabins in Norway. A third of them have closed their ovens as a result of the high prices. – It is not possible to take in the increased price of electricity with increased prices for glass. I can’t charge eight times more for the glasses I make, says Hoff. Stine Hoff no longer blows glass because of the high electricity prices. Instead, she packs glass she blew when electricity prices were lower. Photo: Valentina Baisotti / news Fears that the craft will disappear Glass art is on Unesco’s list of crafts worthy of protection. The Storting has also decided that it must be protected in Norway. In this country, there is no education for glass art. Some of the artists do training. Hoff is the only one in Western Norway. Like others in the same industry, she now fears that the craft will disappear. – For the subject, the situation is critical. All of my colleagues, and those of us who do training, will possibly disappear within a short time, if no power support schemes are put in place. A new apprentice will soon start at Hoff. The way things are now, she will not be able to teach anything other than theory. The Storting has decided that glass art must be protected in Norway. Now Stine Hoff fears that the craft will disappear. The reason is that there are no educations for glass art. At the same time, it becomes difficult to teach the subject when you cannot practice it. Photo: Valentina Baisotti / news – Important for the Norwegian cultural heritage – It is very sad for our cultural heritage if this disappears, says Runa Vethal Stølen, chairman of the trade association Norske Kunsthåndverkere. On Tuesday, she met politicians at the Storting to discuss the situation. – It seems as if we agree to look at the possibilities of supporting visual artists and especially glass huts as a business, because it is urgent, says Stølen. Storting representative for the Conservative Party, Tage Pettersen, believes the industry deserves support. – This is very important for Norwegian cultural heritage, and we have a responsibility there as politicians. It is also a business route, so we can look at this in relation to several different arrangements. Kathy Lie, parliamentary representative for SV, points out that many of the glass artists have finances that are closely linked to their private finances. – We cannot promise anything alone. We hope and believe that the government parties will come up with good solutions, she says. Storting representative Tage Pettersen (H) believes that the industry deserves support. He says that he hopes the government will take this with it to the Storting on 19 September. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB The government’s electricity dilemma Since the winter, LO associations and the Confederation of Business and Industry (NHO) have asked the government to help companies with their electricity bills. But the government has been skeptical because such support could create more headaches than it solves. Among other things, these arguments have been weighed against: The companies can get the money back: Unlike people, the companies have an opportunity to shift part of the electricity bill to the customers by raising the prices. The companies could “insure” themselves: The companies that use the most electricity and are vulnerable to price fluctuations have had the opportunity to arrange a fixed price for electricity. Legal trouble: A form of state support for companies can be difficult to get approved by the EU, which must ensure that companies do not get unfair advantages in competition with others. But the rules were softened in March and extended this summer as a result of the war, according to the European Commission. The consumption of electricity may increase: The companies may abandon reducing the use of electricity if the government picks up part of the bill, so that the water reservoirs are drained more. The disadvantage has also been pointed out by Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre as an argument against maximum electricity prices. The interest rate can sting worse: If the companies get billions in electricity aid, Norges Bank can choose to raise the interest rate even faster because the companies get more money to spend than they would otherwise have had. It will also give the companies another expense. Over the course of the year, the price differences between Northern Norway and Southern Norway have grown. Electricity now costs NOK 5 in south-west Norway. In Northern Norway, businesses have almost free electricity. The sky-high gas prices in Europe are affecting Norwegian electricity prices, and are expected to be high for the next couple of years because Russia has cut parts of the supply. In August, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Ap) said that the government is working on a solution to help companies. Left without salary In the past year, Stine Hoff has used almost everything she has earned to pay for the electricity. Recently, she has not been able to draw any salary. Now she hopes for good solutions from the government. Ideally, she would like some form of compensation scheme. – Some loans will be completely out of the question for me to try to handle on top of all expenses. Until then, she keeps the glass workshop open, without producing. – I still have glass both on the shelves and in stock, and still have customers who come here. But it’s starting to empty, so I need to get started as soon as possible.
ttn-69
High electricity prices threaten the protected profession – news Vestland
