– It would be completely hopeless if ordinary people throughout the country had to pay for the electricity subsidy scheme, while at the same time someone made a super profit on the same electricity price. That’s what the leader of the county council in Nordland, Tomas Norvoll, says. The Labor Party politician is clear that the electricity companies must help foot the bill for the electricity subsidy schemes. He points out that almost all companies that produce hydropower in the south are owned by the state, municipalities or county councils. Tomas Norvoll is clear in his speech. The power companies in the south must themselves take their share of the bill for the compensation schemes. Photo: Adam Enochsson / news – You cannot first bring in billions from the citizens, and then demand that someone else come in to compensate the extra expenses the people have, he says, and continues: – It is obvious that the money that will be used for supporting families and businesses must come from the electricity companies. It will appear unreasonable if this is money to be taken from the state budget. A krone from the national budget is a krone that goes from all of us, he says. Big difference The price differences for electricity in Norway have never been greater. In the north, water is released straight past the turbines, because it is not profitable to produce power. In the south, the water reservoirs are empty, and expensive electricity is imported from other countries in Europe. Despite the fact that the man in the street to the south has to pay dearly for the electricity, it again leads to huge profits for both the state and regional power companies. This will in turn be a ringing coin in the coffers for the municipalities that are on the owner’s side. Just not in the north. – This year is going well, but 2022 will be a difficult year and it is uncertain whether we can pay dividends to the municipalities in 2023, says CEO of Nordkraft Eirik Frantzen. Enormous income Since electricity prices are only a few øre per kW/h from Trøndelag upwards, it also means that the power companies in the north earn a pittance and nothing from electricity sales. In Stavanger, the matter is completely different. At the time of writing, the spot price is 530 øre/kWh in the oil city. The power company Lyse, which is part-owned by 14 municipalities in Western Norway, earns huge sums of money from it. These were paid NOK 650 million in dividends, after the annual result of NOK 2,137 million after tax, from 2021. Stavanger municipality received NOK 363 million from this dividend, but now the municipality wants to have a meeting with the company to see if it is possible to get even more money. – There is talk of taking out an extraordinary dividend this year, in case Lyse shows some very good results. So that the municipalities can compensate their expenses, and perhaps give compensation to those who struggle the most due to high electricity prices. Dagny Sunnanå Hausken (Sp) is acting mayor of Stavanger. She believes it is wise to have a dividend policy that is predictable, but at the same time they have extraordinary expenses that must be earned. Photo: Ole Andreas Bø / news This is what acting mayor of Stavanger, Dagny Sunnanå Hausken (Sp) says. The municipalities have an agreement that they will receive approximately the same amount in dividends regardless of whether it is a good or bad year for the power company. – The owners’ dividend policy in recent years has been that 60 per cent of the dividend should go to the owners, while 40 per cent should remain in the company, says Atle Simonsen, communications manager for energy at Lyse. In comparison, the Lyse group had an annual result of only 354 million from 2020. Now the municipalities will see if they can get an exception. – It is good to have a dividend policy that is predictable, but it is clear that we have extraordinary expenses that we have to earn, says Hausken. Narvik struggles Nordkraft is also owned by many municipalities in Nordland, including the power municipality Narvik. From 2021, the municipality received a dividend of 27.54 million, which is welcome funds for a strained budget. But Nordkraft believes that it is at best uncertain whether the municipalities will get any money for next year. That worries the mayor of Narvik, Rune Edvardsen (Ap). – We will get less money to route with and less to invest for. Obviously, that’s going to mean quite a bit. After Narvik merged with Ballangen municipality and half of Tysfjord in 2020, they have received more areas that need subsidies. This change may result in projects having to be put on hold. – We have planned to invest in nurseries, schools and nursing homes. Of course, there will be a shortage of it, and some of the projects may have to wait. This can have consequences that are noticeable to the population. Big decline for the power companies Nordkraft cannot therefore celebrate large revenues, in contrast to its competitors in the south of the country. Eirik Frantzen nevertheless says that they do not want to hear talk of any injustice. Eirik Frantzen and Nordkraft do not make much money from low electricity prices. Photo: Petter Strøm / news He has previously stated that he is embarrassed by the income of the power giants. – It is a fact that we lose a lot of money. But we don’t choose to think of this as unfair in any way – How much do you lose? – With our own production, a difference of one penny in electricity price means around 10 million per year. A difference of 10 øre becomes 100 million, and so on. – So there will be a lot? – We are not raising billions, no. But the earnings are unreasonable as a result of an unreasonable level of electricity in the south. I’m not thinking about injustice or envy, I just think it’s an inappropriate situation for consumers.
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The power billions give big differences in dividends to Stavanger and Narvik – news Nordland
