(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
New figures this week show that Norway has recently been a net exporter of power to our neighboring country Sweden – despite the domestic electricity crisis. The figures have led some politicians, including SV's fiscal politician Øystein Djupedal, to rage against the power companies for cynical thinking of profit.
We will not take the power companies in defense, nor deny that the companies seem to have shown great irresponsibility and cynicism when they emptied the reservoirs this autumn, but we must give FRP leader Carl I. Hagen right when he points out that all parties – also SV – has wanted a common Nordic power market.
The fact that Norway, Sweden and Denmark can help each other in situations where there is a lack of power is positive for the population throughout Scandinavia, and can help to avoid power crises. It is also a good example of a well-functioning Nordic cooperation. We should not be so introverted that we concentrate only on Norway's problems with the power supply. The power crisis must primarily be remedied by means other than stopping the transmission of electricity to Sweden.
First and foremost, this must be achieved by creating a balance between power generation and consumption in all the Nordic countries. We have meant, and believe, that further development of hydropower or construction of polluting gas power plants is not the way to go. On the other hand, much can be gained from a combination of energy economization in households and companies, and investment in other renewable energy and upgrading of existing power plants.
The main problem, however, is not that the power is sometimes transferred from Norway to Sweden, and sometimes from Sweden to Norway, as the need is greatest. The problem is, besides and because of the imbalance between consumption and production, that the power companies are getting pig-paid on both sides of the keel.
We see that the price must to some extent vary according to the level of supply and demand, in order to avoid situations where high electricity prices are replaced by electricity rationing. But this has to be solved by making each household less dependent on electricity, so that they can choose other forms of energy when the electricity price rises. Therefore, it is only sensible to make substantial grants to households and companies that invest in Enøk. And for shall we give Djupedal and SV more credit than Hagen and Frp.
