– The price is pretty common. It is the same price for electricity as for district heating, says Sveinung Hatlestad. He is chairman of the Solbakken condominium. All 70 apartments in the condominium are connected to district heating. Sveinung Hatlestad is chairman of the Solbakken condominium. Photo: Anders Haualand / news They therefore do not have to use electricity to heat their apartments. But the benefits are minimal, since the price for district heating has skyrocketed with the price of electricity. The district heating companies are allocated a concession area by the municipality. In their area, they are the only ones to supply district heating, and therefore have no direct competitors. In order to regulate the price, a cap has been set on how much the companies can charge for district heating. The ceiling is the current electricity price. – Unreasonable Although the electricity price is the maximum price that can be charged for district heating, there are few reasons to keep the price far below. The norm has therefore been that the district heating price stays well below the electricity price. This has led to record revenues for the district heating industry, which had over 6 billion in revenues in 2021 – That profit does not go to us as consumers. It goes to the district heating company, so I miss that profit, says Hatlestad. He is supported by the National Association of Norwegian Housing Associations (NBBL). Bård Folke Fredriksen, managing director. in the National Association of Norwegian Housing Associations. Photo: NBBL – It is unreasonable that housing associations and condominium owners should pay the same amount for district heating as for electricity, when the high price is not reflected in very high production costs for the producer, says Bård Folke Fredriksen, managing director. in the NBBL. Fredriksen believes district heating is a good and smart way to heat homes, but lacks a better price solution. – When the district heating price was first limited to follow the electricity price, it was to protect the consumer. Now that protection is not there. The authorities must look at another way of pricing district heating, he says. – Energy prices not decoupled Trygve Mellvang Tomren-Berg is general manager of Norsk fjernvarme, the industry organization for district heating producers. He disagrees with Fredriksen that the price of district heating does not reflect high production costs. Trygve Mellvang Tomren-Berg, general manager of Norwegian District Heating. Photo: Siv Johanne Bjørkly Seglem / news – We are not disconnected from energy prices. If you produce district heating with a heat pump, you pay the market price for electricity for the heat pump. Then you have to sell for a compensated electricity price to private homes, he says. In the same way as electricity support, a temporary district heating support has been set up for customers. This support is not paid for by the state, but comes in the form of the district heating companies being forced to lower prices. Will there be a new price solution The Norwegian Directorate of Water Resources and Energy (NVE) is currently working on finding a new solution for the pricing of district heating. Tomren-Berg welcomes a new price solution. One that can protect both the customer and the manufacturer. – It is unfortunate with the high peaks, but also the low bottoms. We could imagine that you have a ceiling, but also a bottom. So that prices don’t go all the way to the top when electricity prices are high, but that you also don’t go into the red when prices are low, he says. Another wish is that you can enter into fixed price agreements, which cannot be done today, since you run the risk that the agreed price will exceed the electricity price. In any case, it will take a few years before any change comes into effect.
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The price of district heating has skyrocketed with the price of electricity – housing associations and condominium owners despair – news Oslo and Viken – Local news, TV and radio
