The county roads in Vestland county are lit up by a total of 35,000 road lights. Street lights consume both energy and money, because the vast majority of lampposts have light bulbs that use far more current than modern LED bulbs. – It will be especially difficult now when electricity prices are so high. Altogether, it cost around NOK 60 million last year. That’s according to unit manager Sigbjørn Rabbe at the county council’s department for infrastructure and roads. Can save 70 per cent Over the next ten years, Vestland plans to invest up to NOK 200 million in energy-saving LED systems along all county roads. According to the county, the conversion to LED lights will more than halve greenhouse gas emissions and electricity costs for the road lighting system. – With one krone per kilowatt hours in electricity and network rental, I had a goal of saving NOK 20–30 million annually on conversion to LED lighting. In addition, we then have the opportunity for active control and dimming at night, and can save up to 70 per cent in total, says Rabbe. If the high electricity prices remain higher than one krone in the future, the savings potential will therefore be far greater than NOK 30 million annually. Bergen has the most street lights, and they are crowded there. The county council believes that Eviny is preventing an effective conversion to energy-saving LED lights. Photo: Leif Rune Løland / news Eviny doesn’t want But the largest energy company in Western Norway – Eviny (formerly BKK) – is now pushing for the electricity-saving environmental measure. As part of the plan to convert to LED, the county politicians decided in the autumn to take over all the 35,000 road lights along the county roads in Vestland. Ownership and operation of road lights in Vestland There are approximately 35,000 road lights along the county roads in Vestland. Veglysa is today operated and owned in many different ways, in different companies, by municipalities or energy companies. This has resulted in large differences in standard, maintenance backlog, level of operation and priorities. Today, the road lights are divided between the county council (25 per cent), Eviny’s company Veilys AS (31 per cent) and the municipalities (44 per cent). In 2023, the county municipality has planned to launch a competition for operation, maintenance and conversion to LED for Hordaland West with Bergen and neighboring municipalities. The county administration, in dialogue with Veilys AS, expected to be able to take over their facilities on county roads in the Bergen area for the book value of around NOK four million already at the start of 2023. But Veilys AS has an ongoing appeal case with the European free trade association EFTA (see separate fact box). Therefore, Eviny’s group board has now decided to put on hold the transfer of facilities from Veglys AS to Vestland County Municipality. The county municipality’s first deadline for terminating the road lighting agreement for 2024 is 30 September 2023. A free takeover is planned for many of the other installations in the municipalities. Source: Vestland county council and Eviny AS In the dialogue with Eviny, the county council expected to take over the 11,000 street lights in Bergen and the surrounding area that are owned and operated by Eviny’s subsidiary Veilys AS. But Eviny has now announced that they will not sell their 11,000 road lights for the time being. The reason is an ongoing appeal case against the European free trade association EFTA (see fact box). It is highly uncertain when it will be decided. Eviny in the EFTA case Eviny AS’s wholly-owned subsidiary Veglys AS owns a large number of road lights on the municipal vegan roads in Bergen municipality, in addition to 11,000 of the 35,000 road lights along county roads in Vestland county. Bergen municipality owns 37.8 percent of Eviny AS. Road lights on Bergen’s municipal roads are and have been operated exclusively by Veilys AS, without tendering. The European Free Trade Association’s (EFTA) control body ESA concluded on 6 July 2022 that Bergen municipality has breached EEA legislation for state aid to Eviny (formerly BKK). According to ESA, Bergen municipality has paid excessive compensation to Eviny for tied up capital (ownership of the traffic lights), and for operation and maintenance of the traffic lights. ESA believes that this overcompensation is contrary to the EEA Agreement. Eviny has appealed the case to the EFTA Court. The company believes that the decision is incorrect and insufficiently reasoned, and that there is no overcompensation. Eviny points out that in 1996 they (i.e. BKK) took over Bergen Lysverker from Bergen municipality. The power grid and the street lights were so closely connected that it was not practically possible to separate the street lights and let the municipality keep them. Veglysa therefore “joined the pack”, writes Eviny. While Eviny is waiting for the agreement in EFTA, Veilys AS has reported back to Vestland county that Eviny’s group board has decided to put on hold the process of selling street lights to Bergen municipality and Vestland county municipality. Source: Eviny and Vestland county council – Unfortunate that Eviny is blocking County director Rune Haugsdal is provoked by the energy giant: “The county director finds it unfortunate that Eviny is in practice blocking the county council and municipalities from taking over street lighting systems as expected, and with the unfortunate cost and environmental consequences this has .” In the case papers, he writes that the county council currently pays NOK 11 million annually to Veilys AS for “a largely outdated facility with high electricity consumption.” County director Rune Haugsdal believes that Eviny’s road lighting systems are expensive and outdated and that the company is now blocking an economically and environmentally sound measure. Photo: Sølve Rydland / news With expected high electricity prices in 2023, the county council wants to speed up the rebuilding of old street lights. “This work must be put on hold,” Haugsdal asserts. County politician Sigbjørn Framnes in the Progress Party also reacts. – It is a great pity that one company stops this, as Eviny is now doing: They block the entire plan to save several tens of millions of kroner a year. It is also unfortunate in terms of climate. There will be a delay in the whole scheme. Eviny: – Privately independent No one in Eviny or the subsidiary company Veilys AS has been interviewed this week about the criticism from Vestland county. In a letter to the county council, daily manager Inge Husefest of Veilys AS explains why Eviny still does not want to sell its road lighting systems now: “The ongoing case before the EFTA Court will provide clarifications relevant to the valuation of all the road lights Veilys AS owns, including the road lights on county roads.” He admits that Eviny thus makes the conversion to energy-saving road lights more difficult: “Eviny slows down the process of selling the road lights. We understand that this is inconvenient.” But he adds that the politicians cannot demand that Eviny sell its street lighting systems: “Political decisions do not trump private autonomy (independent, ed.mrk.)”, he writes. Fears a delay of several years Nevertheless, Husefest writes that Eviny intends to let the county council take over the road lights as soon as the case in Efta is settled and Eviny and the county council “agree on the terms of the agreement and the price”. But Eviny wrote to news that they can participate anyway and switch to LED fixtures together with the county council. The county council does not understand why Eviny wants to wait for the Efta ruling: – We are unable to understand the argument as of today. And we fear that such an appeal could take up to several years, says Rabbe. Unit leader Sigbjørn Rabbe in the county council fears that Eviny’s decision will postpone the conversion to energy-saving street lights for several years. Photo: Private tender In addition to more than halving electricity costs, the county council expects to save NOK 7 million annually by pooling the operation of all county road lights. “Through coordination of operation and maintenance agreements and tendering, significant gains will be achieved,” writes county director Haugsdal. He believes that Eviny’s decision greatly reduces the value of a new tender, because Veilys AS owns the majority of the facilities in this area: “It entails the postponement of the plans for renewal, efficiency and energy saving.” – It is in Bergen and the surrounding area that the road lights are the most numerous and the closest. Without Eviny’s road lights in the Bergen area, it will be difficult to get a good operating agreement and an effective conversion to LED, says Rabbe. Framnes in the FRP agrees: – It goes without saying that if the street lights in Western Norway’s capital are not included in such an announcement, there will be consequences for those who give price offers.
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The energy giant Eviny is blocking the construction of electricity-saving street lights – news Vestland
