With one of the foremost critics in his own ranks only a few meters away from the lectern, the message was not to be misunderstood: SP veteran Per Olaf Lundteigen and the opinion traps in Buskerud Sp should be satisfied with the changes to the electricity subsidy the government presented on Wednesday. Then he came with an acknowledgment and a promise: – The two large foreign cables should not have been built. They are making it far too vulnerable the way they are attacking now. But they are built. We just have to deal with that, he said. He added: – But no new ones will be built as long as we have power in the country. That is for sure! CRITIC: With Sp veteran Per Olaf Lundteigen in the front row, Vedum spoke to Buskerud Sp today. Photo: Henning Rønhovde / news Has been heard The party leader and finance minister received a standing ovation when he took the podium at the county annual meeting in Buskerud this afternoon. But many in the room believe the government has acted too late in the face of the high electricity prices. The demand from the grassroots is stronger national control of the power system. CABLE LIFTS: Sp leader Trygve Slagsvold Vedum met his own at the county annual meeting in Buskerud. Photo: Henning Rønhovde / news And Vedum believes that it is precisely at this point that the government has now met Lundteigen and other critics: – Now there is a government-appointed committee that will go through exactly what Per Olaf is proposing, said Vedum in the speech – and added: – It would never have happened if Sp had not been in government. He pointed out that the committee will investigate a separate price range around the disputed foreign cables. It will also look at the possibility of reduced exports at the median level of filling in the reservoirs, and whether Norway can take some electricity away from the exchange and offer it at a lower price. – There will be a lot of noise Five county teams in the Center Party will meet this weekend to adopt new electricity requirements for their own government in the run-up to the national meeting in March. After visiting party members in Buskerud on Friday, Vedum will continue to its own county annual meeting in Innlandet. Impatient Sp people are also waiting there. And sharp resolutions about action. In Drammen, the party leader took the bull by the horns: It is not just about tearing up agreements concluded with European countries, even if SP wants to renegotiate, change or scrap them: – We cannot break international agreements in an instant. Then there will be so much noise. – Gotta do the job Long-standing parliamentary representative Per Olaf Lundteigen has put into words a frustration he says he hears from all sides. – People experience that the income is enough for less. Purchasing power is reduced. The most important thing we can do now is to reduce inflation. Then the most important thing we can do is to reduce electricity prices, he told the annual meeting. – We have to do the job that many are now waiting for us to do, he said. The party veteran recalled in an interview with news this week that Sp went to the polls on stable and predictable electricity prices. – We should have a competitive advantage in electricity, and we should have national control over security of supply. And we don’t have that now, he said. The Sp top says people internally are cursed and upset about a Sp which, according to him, has not been able to follow through on the promises in the Hurdal platform. ANSWERS: Sp leader Trygve Slagsvold Vedum addressed the county annual meeting of Buskerud Sp today. Photo: Henning Rønhovde / news Strikes back But parliamentary leader Marit Arnstad rejects demands for a maximum price and believes that Lundteigen has now achieved an important breakthrough with the new committee work. Arnstad wants clear changes to the system and compares the committee’s work to building houses. – But you should have some drawings on it before you start. We must be absolutely sure how these measures work in practice, she says. Lundteigen is not impressed: – We don’t need more selections. All stones are turned. Action is lacking, he says. Frustration But Lundteigen is not alone in thinking that his own government is doing too little, and that it is too late. Several county leaders vent their frustration in the Nation today. – We are waiting for concrete action to ensure stable and predictable power prices, says county manager Marit Nerås Krogsæter in Møre og Romsdal Sp. – The frustration is great, there is no doubt about that, says manager Bjørn Iversen of Vestre Toten Sp to Aftenposten. ELECTRICITY CRISIS: Large parts of Norway experienced record expensive electricity in 2022. Photo: Kristian Skårdalsmo Already last weekend, tough resolutions on electricity were adopted at the annual meetings in Østfold and Oslo. And this weekend, new electricity decisions are expected at county annual meetings in Buskerud, Nordland, Hedmark and Oppland, Møre and Romsdal and Rogaland: At Vedum’s home ground in Hedmark, SP demands electricity prices that, to the greatest extent possible, reflect what it costs to produce electricity, plus natural surcharges. – Norway must therefore be decoupled from price formation in the Central European/British market, for example by a two-price system for the Norwegian market and export, respectively, it says. It costs 12–13 øre per kilowatt hour to produce electricity from Norwegian hydropower. Max price Oslo Sp also adopted a clear power resolution last weekend. Oslo Sp will frame the foreign cables in its own price ranges and renegotiate the agreements for the cables to Great Britain and Germany. In addition, the county association will ban pure electricity companies, for example by setting requirements that the company must produce electricity in order to sell anything other than surplus power. In Buskerud, Lundteigen wants a maximum price of 70 øre and “careful regulation” of the cables to the continent. MAXIMUM PRICE: Per Olaf Lundteigen is critical of his own government. Photo: Trond Stenersen Indre Østfold mayor Saxe Frøshaug, who is the head of SP’s mayoral authority, believes that the pain threshold is at an electricity price of 60 øre per kWh. – The electricity support scheme should be expanded. The exchange capacity to Europe must be better regulated to ensure Norwegian security of supply, said his county leader Sigrun Simensen Ilsøy today. But the grassroots’ demand for a maximum price is opposed by the party leadership. They certainly do not want such a decision at the national meeting in mid-March. – When it comes to the maximum price, I actually disagree with Frøshaug and Lundteigen. SP’s storting group has a decision that we are not in favor of a maximum price. The reason is that we believe that the maximum price will not encourage energy efficiency, says Arnstad.
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– Shouldn’t have been built – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
