On Monday, the Labor Party’s own energy committee came out with its report. It states that the government’s electricity subsidy scheme is too bad and that improvements are needed. – This is unsustainable, as the situation is for many people now. It is unlivable, said committee leader Kari Nessa Nordtun when she visited the Politisk kvarter on Tuesday. She says it is urgent to improve the electricity subsidy and believes the government must act in good time before Ap’s national meeting in May. OPENS: While Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre rejects the maximum price for electricity, Kari Nessa Nordtun in Ap’s own energy committee keeps the door open for the proposal. Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB But in the report itself, the committee only highlights VAT cuts as a concrete proposal for how electricity prices can be reduced. At the same time, Nordtun says that a number of other options are still on the table. Also maximum price. – We keep the doors open to everything with the wording we have. The most important thing is to get the bill down. Which way it happens, it will be up to the government to assess, she says. The power debate in Labor Party was the topic of Tuesday’s edition of Politisk kvarter. Towards a maximum price Fellesforbundet’s leader Jørn Eggum has advocated a maximum price of 70 øre per kilowatt hour for ordinary consumers. In addition, he wants a fixed price for the industry of between 50 and 70 øre, according to Klassekampen. But when news interviewed Prime Minister and party leader Jonas Gahr Støre about the electricity debate in his own party during the annual meeting of Lillestrøm Ap on Saturday, he clearly argued against the proposal for a maximum price. – I think the maximum price is a bad solution. I think it could lead to a power collapse in Norway, that we get too little power for the needs we have, said Støre. After the report was presented on Monday, the Labor leader told news that he promises to listen to the recommendations. – It is a flat promise I make. It is a very good job they have done. The committee has been made up of people with a lot of experience from different parts of the party. So here there is a lot of good to take with us to the national board and the national meeting, said Støre, who added that he would not take a position on specific individual proposals now. More proposals Kari Nessa Nordtun says proposals to lower the cut-off point for the electricity subsidy from 70 to, for example, 50 øre have also been discussed in the Employment Committee, as has the question of the maximum price. The same applies to the Center Party’s proposal for a separate top price system, where the electricity sold in Norway is cheaper than that which is exported. As well as a possible restructuring of the electricity subsidy from starting from monthly average prices to, for example, hourly. – We have considered several different measures that contribute to the same thing, precisely to reduce the bill for people. So we are not closing the door on any of these measures, says Nordtun. POWER SUPPLY: The power debate may increase in intensity in the run-up to the national political meetings in a few months. Photo: SIV KRISTIN SÆLLMANN / news In his speech to Lillestrøm Ap on Saturday, the prime minister himself addressed the energy committee’s work and the electricity debate that is now raging within the party. REJECTS: Jonas Gahr Støre rejected the presentation from the critics who call for political control of the electricity market when he spoke to party colleagues in Lillestrøm at the weekend. Photo: Trygve Heide / news – We will certainly have discussions about this, at county annual meetings and towards the national meeting. It is good. This is how it should be in a democracy, said Støre and concluded himself: – The answer to the challenges we face is more power, more network and more efficiency! Towards “nostalgia” He was prepared for the fact that there are now new demands from his own ranks for measures and action to gain control over the high electricity prices. Central is the concern of those who believe that something as basic as electricity has become a pure commodity in a market that is distant from both consumers and politicians. And who believe that power exports from Norway to Europe should be slowed down sharply. Støre took a strong stand against this view in his speech to party members in Lillestrøm. – When we do not cut ties with the countries around us, this is also an active political choice. No one has decided this over us. We do it because we think it is right for Norway and serves Norwegian interests, said the Prime Minister. The market is not the ruler, but the servant in this matter of power, stated Støre. Who believes that parts of the electricity debate are characterized by a certain political nostalgia. – There is a nostalgia out there now, which says that we now just have to become proper social democrats and take ourselves into account first. And I have always believed that a national government must do that. But it was Einar Gerhardsen who in 1960 told Tage Erlander in Sweden that we should have exchanges between Norway and Sweden, said Støre. Defending the cables Støre believes that it is absolutely necessary to have foreign cables that ensure exchange to Europe. – If you don’t do that, in a weather-exposed power system like we have, you have to build up reserves of water for situations with dry years. It will require huge natural interventions and be completely unnecessary if you can draw on the benefits of different weather in the neighboring countries, he said. NOSTALGY: Støre believes that there is a certain nostalgia that characterizes the electricity debate. Photo: Trygve Heide / news In front of news, he elaborated on his reasoning after the speech: – In general, we may have a tendency to say that what worked in the 1950s, 60s and 70s should be copied today. But it is not the case that the solutions that lie behind us in time are the right ones for what lies ahead. What I am keen to say is that we must take the underlying values with us. – Do you think that those who want greater political control with power are political nostalgics? – I have never said that. I also want to have great political control with the force. But those who try to say that this is just left to the market, I think they are wrong. There are clear political choices behind it. – Tougher with the EU A number of heavy Labor names at the grassroots and in the trade union movement have in recent months called for greater political control of electricity prices. Demands to slow the export of power out of the country have been expressed, among other things, by former deputy leader Trond Giske, who leads the party’s largest local team, Nidaros, and by the alternative energy commission, where former LO leader Gerd-Liv Valla is among the members. – Some in the debate, including in our party, say we must be tougher with the EU and challenge the room for maneuver in the EEA agreement. I have nothing against that. It is our responsibility to look after Norwegian interests. But it is also in Norway’s interest to have good cooperation with the countries around us, said Støre in his speech to party members at Lillestrøm. The Confederation’s Jørn Eggum (centre) and Norsk Industri’s leader Stein Lier Hansen (right) have both called for new power measures from the government. Photo: William Jobling / news – So you put down some border posts in front of the debate within Ap: the EEA agreement is fixed, the exchange cables must remain and it will not be relevant to have a maximum price. Is that correctly understood? – Now you took the short version. Because in all areas I am keen to look at how we use the room for maneuver in our agreements. But to say that Norway should cut itself off and just manage on its own is a bad solution. We have a weather-exposed power system and we will need more power in the future. So we need a sensible and good exchange, he says. Price contagion The Labor Party’s energy committee states that the foreign cables have also contributed to price contagion, meaning that the price of electricity in Norway is affected by the prices of gas and other energy sources in Europe. Committee leader and Stavanger mayor Kari Nessa Nordtun says this has especially been the case for the last two cables, to Germany and Great Britain. She says Labor and the government should make use of the room for maneuver in the EEA agreement and other agreements and that measures must be considered to limit this price contagion. CHALLENGE: Kari Nessa Nordtun, currently Labor mayor in Stavanger, believes the room for maneuver in the EEA agreement must be challenged. Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB – When there is a strong negative consequence as a result of the exchange and the price contagion that takes place, then we have to look at measures to counteract it. It is important to us. Europe is already considering this. They look at this with how the gas price affects the price. They are considering detaching it from pricing. So this work is actually already underway in Europe, she says. Støre tells news that he is “open to good debates” about this with price contagion and acknowledges that there is a discussion about the cables to Great Britain and one to Germany. – It is a challenge that we must look at. Are we too influenced by the prices that are out there? We are looking at it carefully. But the reality is that last autumn, when we filled up our water reservoirs, it was the cables that helped us get power in, Støre told party members at Lillestrøm on Saturday. – Are you afraid of decisions at the county annual meetings that go along completely different tracks than those the government has followed so far? – Now they will have their debates. I think the debate is becoming more and more enlightened and that the phrase “more power, more network and more efficiency” is the answer we must go for, says the Prime Minister to news.
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Struggle against the maximum price – defends the cables – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
