Stein Arne Nistad published a statement on Sunday 21 August in which he describes his experience of a trip in Aurlandsdalen and reminisces about energy use in his childhood. It is good reading and most of us who have walked in regulated mountain areas have similar experiences. There are nevertheless several imprecise points in the chronicle. The title “Someone has stolen our father’s inheritance” indicates that a crime has occurred. But no one has stolen anything. On the contrary, over 90 percent of Norwegian hydropower is owned by the public, the Norwegian state and Norwegian counties and municipalities. It is the public sector that receives the income from power production. The Norwegian authorities have full control over the energy resources and it is democratically made decisions that determine how we regulate the power market. Aurlandsdalen is still a natural gem, despite the fact that Aurland is one of the areas in the country with the largest power generation. As Nistad himself observes, Aurlandsdalen is a brilliant example of how it is possible to combine power production and conservation of natural values. Nistad writes that Strandevatn in Hol municipality appears to be a “stone desert after senseless bottling”. The fact is that the inflow at the top of Hallingdal this year is half of normal. So to speak, no power has been produced from water in this reservoir since the snowmelt, in fact only 16 hours since 1 April. It is by no means an environmental crime, but without inflow, snow or rain, magazines will not be filled either. We fully understand that people are frustrated by the extremely high electricity prices, but the high prices are caused by war in Europe and dry weather in southern Norway, not by someone stealing our father’s heritage. On the contrary, Norwegian society has large revenues from power production in the form of taxes and fees. We can rather have a discussion about how we redistribute the income to people and businesses, and how we can best increase the production of renewable energy. Follow the debate:
ttn-69
No, the father’s inheritance has not been stolen – Statement
