Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

ENERGY

‘Outrageous bills’: How readers are coping with high energy prices in Norway

Energy bills in Norway are set to soar this winter. We asked readers how they were coping and how they've changed their habits to try and save money.

Published: 21 October 2022 13:30 CEST
Pictured is a thermostat.
Readers of The Local Norway have shared with us how energy prices have led to them changing their habits. Pictured is a thermostat. Photo by Erik Mclean on Unsplash

Energy prices in Norway have soared over the past year. Prices are high because of low-reservoir filling levels (Norway is dependent on hydroelectric power), the war in Ukraine and soaring gas prices.

As a result, energy bills have also skyrocketed, despite a government subsidy scheme which sees the state pick up 90 percent of the bill when market prices rise above 70 øre kWh.

Even with the support, readers are finding current energy prices incredibly difficult. Just under 80 percent of those who responded to a survey by The Local said they were finding it “very hard” or “fairly” hard, while 11 percent said the situation was about the same as a year ago.

One reader told The Local that current prices left them and their partner fearing whether they would be able to pay their next bill.

“It’s only my husband and me in the house, and the bill for last month was outrageous. We are now turning off heating, only using an oven (to cook), turning off fish tanks all day, and only having five-minute showers, as anything over that costs 60 kroner. It’s now cheaper to have a bath, we now only bathe if needed and use the washing machine twice a week, and in (the) early hours, so electricity is cheaper. Between 6-8pm, when it’s the most expensive, we don’t turn on any large appliances that drain power in the hope that we can pay the bill for next month,” Sarah Louise wrote.

In contrast, just 11 percent said that the situation wasn’t that hard. Those that said that prices were similar to last year or not that hard to cope with were more often living in areas of the country where prices are the lowest, such as central Norway.

Prices in the north and central Norway are typically much lower than elsewhere as those parts of the country have a surplus, meaning more energy is produced than is needed.

Just under 90 percent of those who responded to our survey said that they had changed their habits to reduce their energy bills.

Vivianne, who lives in Larvik, shared a raft of habits she had changed to reduce energy bills.

“(Using the) heating less, turning the lights (off) as soon as I don’t need them, using the oven to cook several things (at once), charging (the) phone, tablet etc. at night, turning off the TV and unpluging electronics I’m not using. (I) go for a walk when I feel cold, once back inside it feels warmer. (I am) going to bed earlier to warm up the bed, wearing more layers inside and (have) more blankets in bed, she wrote.

Another reader, from Oslo, said that they had tried making consuming more energy when prices are lower a habit.

“Use electricity when it’s cheap and trying to distribute the usage more in off-peak hours,” they wrote.

That reader isn’t alone in managing their energy usage around price fluctuations. Last month, energy firms noticed a change in customers’ habits to adapt to energy prices. Electricity prices in Norway fluctuate throughout the day, typically peaking when more people use the grid and falling when less power is being used.

READ ALSO: How people in Norway are changing their habits to keep energy bills down

One reader from India living in Stavanger told us that they’re trying to save power-intensive tasks, like cooking and laundry, until after 9pm and trying to use less power overall.

Planning their energy usage around dips in energy price was the most common answer we received from readers who’d told us they’d changed their consumption habits. Planning laundry around price dips was the most mentioned example of this among readers. 

Another common change that readers implemented to try and keep their energy bills to a minimum included turning down the heating indoors, centrally, as well as for underfloor heating.

Given that people are lowering temperatures to try and save money on energy, some are also turning to alternative heating sources to keep their homes warm. The Local has previously spoken to experts in both the fireplace and heat pump markets who have said they have seen a huge increase in demand from people looking for alternative ways to stay warm this winter.

READ MORE: 

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

MONEY

How much will energy bills in Norway cost this autumn and winter?

The last few winters in Norway have seen consumers pay steep energy bills despite a government subsidy scheme. So, how are things looking this year?

Published: 26 July 2024 11:17 CEST
How much will energy bills in Norway cost this autumn and winter?

Energy prices in Norway rocketed in the autumn of 2021, so much so that the government was forced to introduce a subsidy scheme for electricity bills.

Since then, a number of factors have kept bills high, such as fluctuating gas prices, low reservoir filling levels, and high gas prices on the continent bleeding into the Norwegian market.

More recently, several reports have suggested that energy prices in Norway are finally on the way down to more manageable levels. Annual inflation figures released by Statistics Norway earlier this month showed that energy prices fell by more than 20 percent between June 2023 and 2024.

Around 90 percent of Norway’s energy is hydropower, and a large inflow to reservoirs increased power production in the second quarter.

Currently, reservoirs in southern Norway are around five percentage points higher than usual for the time of year. However, northern and central Norway, which has had much drier and sunnier weather than the south this summer, has seen the filling level of reservoirs drop 11 percentage points, Olav Botnen, an analyst at Volt Power Analytics, told Norwegian newswire NTB.

Despite this, energy prices will still be lower in Norway’s north and central regions than in the south this winter. Even with the lower reservoir filling levels, prices in the north are expected to be lower than last year.

“Northern and central Norway are likely to get below 30 øre per kilowatt hour (kWh) for the rest of the summer, and around 45 øre per kWh for the coming winter. It will be a little cheaper than last winter, as expectations are now,” Botnen told NTB.

The reason for the lower prices in northern and central Norway this winter, despite lower reservoir levels, is that the region can also rely on wind power to supplement its electricity supplies.

The region also has a much higher power surplus than the south too, meaning it would take a lot for reservoir levels to affect bills.

While northern Norway can look forward to slightly lower bills, southern Norway won’t see too much of a difference compared to last winter.

“In southern Norway, the market expects around 45 øre kWh for the rest of the summer, August to September. For winter, expectations are around 80 øre per kWh. It is quite similar to what was delivered last winter,” Botnen said.

Meanwhile, southwestern Norway will have slightly higher prices for the rest of summer but similar prices to the rest of southern Norway in the winter.

“They are likely to get a price of 55 and 60 øre per kWh for the summer and the same price as the rest of southern Norway for the coming winter,” Bonten said.

One thing which could positively affect prices, according to the energy analyst Gro Klæboe from Volue Insight, is more stable gas prices.

The analyst said that stocks were looking good for winter, which would lower prices on the continent and have a positive knock-on effect for Norway.

SHOW COMMENTS