Throughout the summer, several new price records have been set for currents in southern Norway. Figures from the power exchange NordPool show that the power for East Norway and West Norway on Monday could be the most expensive so far this year. On average, it is NOK 2.73 per kilowatt hour. Norwegian families and businesses have asked for help, and the government has received criticism from several who believe it is too late. Now they are coming up with measures. The government says they are strengthening the electricity subsidy scheme for households and moving the increased subsidy of 90 per cent from 1 October to 1 September. – There will be a slightly larger decrease in the bill in September, says Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre to news. – This provides insurance when the price goes over 70 øre, then 90 per cent is support. Norwegians depend on electricity. This affects the electricity price: The level of power production in Norway The level of power production in the partner countries The level of power production in countries outside our power market The price of electricity outside our power market Consumers’ electricity consumption The amount of electricity we export abroad Dollar exchange rate The price of CO2 emissions Maintenance work Cable quality Transmission restrictions in the power grid, also called bottlenecks Source: Strøm.no Exports to be held back The government is also coming up with a tool to ensure that magazine filling in Norway does not become too low. – We want to make sure that the degree of filling is not too low. If it does, we must continue to export, so that we will always have good magazine filling in Norway, says Støre. The water reservoir in the Eidefossen power plant in Vågå last August was almost completely empty. Photo: Even Lusæter / news – How are they going to do it? – We will do this through technical and clear guidelines to the power companies, and to those who are responsible for the filling reservoir, so that it does not fall below that limit. If it does, they must keep exporting. Støre underlines that this applies in southern Norway. Further north in the country, the situations are different, and they export as normal. The business sector also gets support The 90 per cent Straumstøtte scheme does not apply to the business sector, but the Prime Minister says that they will also get support. However, he will not say specifically what kind of support they will receive. – We are working on it. We don’t have a ready-made solution for that, he says and adds: – We want to hear from LO and NHO. They have an overview of how the companies are doing. This is a composite picture, so I want to be sure of how we create an arrangement that actually works and that does not have negative effects, he says. The government will meet the parties in working life on Monday.
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