City council member in Bergen, Thomas Flesland (Sp), believes that the Storting “should as soon as possible adopt an external investigation” of Statnett for having provided “deliberate information about foreign cables”. He wrote that in a chronicle in Bergens Tidende. – What emerged in the license application (2013) was far too poor a basis for such important decisions, he says to news. Statnett is a state-owned company that will monitor and develop power trade with other countries. In addition, Statnett is a professional body that will advise politicians. The quality of these councils has been debated this summer after former oil and energy minister Ola Borten Moe (Sp) characterized them as “crap” on Dagsnytt Atten (he used the English word “shit”). He added that he, as the minister responsible at the time, would have reasoned differently about the “price contagion” from the foreign cables if the intelligence to Statnett was of higher quality. On Wednesday, a new record was set in the most notorious stream area in Norway (NO2). At most, the price comes to NOK 5.26/kWh. Ola Borten Moe characterized the advice to Statnett as “crap” on Dagsnytt Atten in July (“shit in, shit out”). – A sensible and precise proposal The proposal to investigate Statnett gets a good response on the Storting bench of the Center Party, and among several of the party’s mayors (see quote box). – This is a sensible and precise proposal. Statnett is not an unpopular professional body, says Olaf Lundteigen (Sp). – An external investigation would make sense Siri Blichfeldt Dyrland (Sp), mayor in Midt-Telemark – If Statnett’s advice had a lot to say about the decision, then an external investigation would make sense. In that case, the investigation must end up with conclusions that can be used to obtain better practice around this in the future. Grunde Wegar Knudsen (Sp), mayor of Kragerø – It may be that an investigation will reveal information that can be used in such a debate as is now taking place. It is absolutely incredible to me that people do not understand that Norwegian clean water power, which was intended for a population of 5-6 million, could help supply countries such as Great Britain and Germany with their 80 million inhabitants each, without it having consequences for us here in Norway. All parties in the Storting should now come together to solve the crisis and not engage in party politics and blame each other. Per Atle Kjøllesdal (Sp), mayor of Stryn – I do not have a good enough insight into the advice that was given to have strong opinions about it. In principle, I still believe that it is not the cables that are the problem, but their use, and in my view that is a political responsibility. Magnhild Eia (Sp), mayor of Lund – I think the Storting itself will carry out that assessment if it is right that central governing powers believe they have been led astray. Anita H. Riskedal (Sp), mayor of Hjelmeland – If the government believes that such an investigation is appropriate, I support it. If the debts to Statnett are correct, this is very serious, and something that should have serious repercussions. – It is absolutely crucial that Statnett regains trust. Then it may happen that such an investigation is the way to go, says Nils T. Bjørke (Sp), who is a member of the control and constitution committee at the Storting. In 2016, the National Audit Office criticized Statnett for the “variable quality” of the analyses, and for the fact that relevant information “does not always appear clearly” in the decision-making basis for the politicians. – We will consider proposals for investigation seriously. Statnett spends billions on bottleneck revenues and is not a “neutral” party in the issue of development, says Sofie Marhaug in the Raudt party. Marius Arion Nilsen is energy policy spokesperson in the Frp. He has previously asked the minister about a similar investigation, and repeated the call: – In today’s view, the recommendations from Statnett are unclear at best. Considering how big the consequences of high electricity prices are, and how harmful it is for our society over time, we are keen on a review, he says. – If we had known what we know today, it is unlikely that Norwegian politicians would have been in favor of building these last two cables, says Ole André Myhrvold, who is energy policy spokesperson for the Center Party (full answer in the box below). Photo: Ole Berg-Rusten / NTB – Closer integration makes Norway more vulnerable – If we had known what we know today, it is unlikely that some Norwegian politicians would have been in favor of building these last two cables. Statnett has its analyzes based on its models, but it is a fact that a closer integration with the European energy market makes Norway more vulnerable to a development that is beyond our control. Although the power market has generally functioned well after 1991, we see that it has its weaknesses in a crisis situation. It is therefore important for the Center Party to have control over power so that we can ensure the population, business and industry the basic need for renewable electricity at livable prices at all times. The fact that the government will now reduce power exports when the degree of filling is critically low is in this respect a completely correct measure to ensure national preparedness. Furthermore, the government has set up an energy commission. Among other things, it will look at how foreign cables affect Norwegian power prices. We look forward to its conclusions, and a subsequent debate on how we can achieve the government’s goal of enough and cheap power for people and industry. – A crusader for new international connections In the commentary “In the iron grip of the power lobby”, by Bjørgulv Braanen in Klassekampen, Statnett director Hilde Tonne is characterized as “a crusader for new international connections”. news has been in contact with Statnett, which will not comment on the criticism. – We will not enter into a discussion about whether the politicians have made decisions on the wrong basis or similar. They should be able to answer that themselves, says Statnett’s head of communications, Christer Gilje. In March, Statnett reported that the new cables to Germany and England were the explanation for “around 10 per cent of the very high prices”. – In the public debate, it is portrayed as if the two new cables are the main reason for the record high electricity prices. Our calculations show that this is not true, said Statnett CEO Gunnar Løvås. Statnett stated to Nettavisen earlier this year that “many of the trends and assumptions” they laid down in the scenario from 2013 “have worked well”. Statnett has invested NOK 75 billion in the power grid in the last ten years, and plans to invest the same in the next ten the years. – The last two cables should never have been built, says Trond Giske (Ap) in an interview with Klassekampen this week. Photo: Svenska kraftnät – It is ridiculous that Statnett is being suspected Arild Hermstad in MDG says it is “funny that Statnett is being suspected in this way”. – There are few grounds for believing that Statnett knowingly and willfully deceived the population. If you want to insinuate something like this, you should have more to say, he says. He adds that the governing party, the Center Party, should rather go after itself: – This seems like an act of panic from a Center Party that itself has a seat in power. Now they want to find scapegoats and shift the responsibility onto others for a policy they have previously supported themselves. In 2012, Ola Borten Moe (Sp) met the German Economy Minister Phillip Rösler and stated that he was “well satisfied with the possibility of exchanging power between Germany and Norway”. Photo: Torstein Bøe / Torstein Bøe Stortingsmelding 14 from 2012 Stortingsmelding 14 (2011-12) on the development of the power grid was issued by the Ministry of Oil and Energy on 2 March 2012, and was approved by the Stoltenberg II cabinet on the same day. Here is the following about the foreign connections: “Norway and the other Nordic countries have several connections to countries outside the Nordic region. Further connections are being planned. The association contributes to improving the security of supply for electricity in Norway and in the countries that are connected to the Norwegian system. The association also contributed to taking care of and developing the values that lie in Norwegian water power. (…) These conditions mean that the trade gains from the foreign connections contribute to significant value creation, without the average price of electricity in Norway necessarily changing to a particularly great extent.” Ola Elvestuen is a parliamentary representative for the Liberal Party. – Parties and elected representatives should themselves take responsibility for the decisions they make. There is no reason to blame Statnett for the establishment of the international cable. There has been broad political agreement about them. He adds: – Furthermore, it is good for Norway that they are established. Over time, we will have great advantages from being closely linked to European energy cooperation.
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Several want to investigate Statnett for “misleading” the people – news Vestland
