– If we are going to cut anything more now, we have to turn off the electricity. We cannot do that. Ann Helen Fevang says so. She is an electricity shareholder, and since last year has halved the electricity consumption in the 300 square meter villa. – Nevertheless, the electricity bill is even higher, says Fevang. Ann Helen Fevang believes that it is a big problem that people do not understand which electricity agreements they have. Photo: Benjamin Danielsen / news At the same time that electricity prices run wild, it is increasingly difficult for consumers to find their way in a jungle of agreements and concepts. In a survey by Sifo, just under half of the respondents believed that they had a spot price agreement, while the other half answered that they had a variable price, a fixed price or did not know. Compared to the figures from Statistics Norway, the survey shows that many people do not know what type of agreement they have. The electricity bill is difficult to understand, says Fevang. Photo: Benjamin Danielsen / news – It becomes a problem when people do not understand what kind of agreements they have. Even when you read the invoice, it is very little obvious what things mean, says Fevang. – You can have a college education, but still I think most people will struggle to understand what it really means, she adds. Some of the findings in the survey 23 per cent have changed electricity contracts in the last 12 months. 26 percent never change electricity contracts. Price is the main reason for switching, but there are also many people who are influenced by active marketing. Under 40 percent think they have an electricity agreement where the prices are set every hour. The respondents believed that there was more to save by reducing their own consumption than by changing electricity contracts. The researchers have used surveys and focus groups to investigate how flexible consumers are in the electricity market. The survey had 2,529 respondents – Understand that people get confused Harald Throne-Holst is a researcher at Sifo. He says that the results of the survey were more surprising than they had thought beforehand. – Our conclusion is that many simply do not know which electricity agreement they have, he says to news. Sifo researcher Harald Throne Holst. Photo: Eivind Rohne / images@beyondthei / Oslo Met – I understand very easily that people get confused, he continues. In the report, a full 51 per cent of the most vulnerable group, single parents living in the south with an income of less than 500,000, answer that they have had to cut back on food consumption in order to afford to pay the electricity bill. A total of 19 percent give the same answer. – It is absolutely terrible, and we have also seen that in other surveys. More people can’t afford it these days, says Throne-Holst. Standard agreements in place – We must have electricity agreements that everyone can understand, says Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland (Ap) to NTB. Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland. Photo: EILIF ASLAKSEN / news They have now put in place a standard agreement for the spot price of electricity. This week, Aasland and Minister for Children and Families Kjersti Toppe (Sp) met the industry organization Renewable Norway, as well as District Energy and Samfunnsbedriftene energi to discuss a proposal for a standard spot price agreement. On Wednesday, the agreement came into place. According to Fornybar Norge, several of the country’s largest electricity suppliers already offer the new agreement. The organization is also working to get agreements in place for all types of electricity agreements that are offered, they inform news. The companies are currently not obliged to use the new agreement. In the agreement, the only thing that separates the companies from each other will be how large a surcharge they have per kilowatt hour, as well as the monthly fee. – This is a move that makes it easier to be an electricity customer in Norway today. This makes it easier to compare offers, and it will intensify competition in the market. It benefits all Norwegian electricity customers. This is what Toini Løvseth, director of marketing and production at Fornybar Norge, says in a press release. Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland (Ap) and Children and Family Minister Kjersti Toppe (Sp) met Renewable Norway, District Energy and Samfunnsbedriftene energi to discuss the work being done in the industry to create a standard spot price agreement. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB This will make it much easier for electricity customers to compare the agreements, Aasland believes. – There is a jumble of different electricity agreements, and it is incredibly complicated to deal with all the existing agreements. One standard agreement in all companies will make it much easier for customers, he says.
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More than half have no idea what kind of electricity agreement they have
