– I don’t think people in Svelvik are aware of how much more we actually pay for electricity. It is bloody unreasonable, a frustrated Eigil Skantz tells news. He has grown tired of what he calls differential treatment of the municipality’s residents. While people in Svelvik have to pay dearly for light and heat, the rest of the population in the municipality gets away with much lower prices. Eigil Skantz from Svelvik has to pay far more for electricity than other residents of Drammen. Photo: Jan-Erik Wilthil / news The explanation for the absurd situation lies in the different power regions. Svelvik is located in zone NO2 – Southwest Norway. The rest of Drammen belongs to zone NO1 – Eastern Norway. These zones follow old county boundaries, and before the municipal merger with Drammen, Svelvik belonged to Vestfold. The result is that residents of the same municipality now have to deal with large price differences for electricity. Ask politicians to take action – We have our economy to take into account. It is completely unreasonable that we who live in Svelvik have to pay so much more for electricity, says Eigil Skantz. He is now asking the city’s politicians to take action. – It must be possible for the politicians in Drammen to raise this issue with the ministry. We have started a process and will not give up, says Skantz. View towards cheaper electricity. Knut Faret and Eigil Skantz look across to the other side of the Svelvik Stream, where the electricity is far cheaper. Photo: Jan-Erik Wilthil / news He gets support from another svalviking, Jon Faret. – It is deeply unfair. Business in Svelvik lives with much higher electricity prices than the competitors, says Faret. He also believes it is high time the politicians do something about the situation. – If you are able to change municipal and county boundaries with the stroke of a pen, it should be possible to find an arrangement that gives residents the same price for electricity. Mayor: – Will use outside vote – I find this incomprehensible, and I understand that those who live in Svelvik are shouting loudly. The price should be the same for everyone in the municipality, says mayor of Drammen, Monica Myrvold Berg. Mayor of Drammen, Monica Myrvold Berg (Ap). Photo: Raymond Dalen She now promises to put the problem on the agenda. – I have already made contact with Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland. This is complicated, and concerns the physical power grid. I promise that I will use the outside vote. I also experience this as bloody unfair, says Myrvold Berg. Wide reservoirs lead to low electricity prices in Eastern Norway. This is from Tunhovdfjorden in Nore og Uvdal. Photo: Jan-Erik Wilthil / news Statnett: – Working with solutions According to Statnett, it is the enormous amounts of rainfall in Eastern Norway in August that have led to the large price differences. – There is a large water flow in the rivers and full water reservoirs, and the power producers have to run at full capacity. This leads to an extraordinarily low price in Eastern Norway, says CEO Peer Olav Østli at Statnett. Peer Olav Østli, Executive Vice President for System Operations at Statnett. Photo: Statnett For region NO2, to which Svelvik belongs, the situation is completely different. – In Southern Norway, the power producers save water for the winter. There they follow the price level of Sweden, Denmark and partly the continent, says Østli. According to the executive director, Statnett is now working to find solutions that will help to equalize the price differences between the regions. – We are working on measures that can improve the transmission capacity somewhat already next year. The most important thing is to build out the power grid and capacity, but that will take longer.
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Pays 100 times more for the stream – news Oslo and Viken – Local news, TV and radio
