Sky-high electricity prices led to app crash – NRK Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
Consumers in southern Norway had to pay a record amount for electricity on Monday. In recent weeks, electricity prices in the country have gone from record to record.
On Monday, the electricity price, excluding grid rent and fees, was more than NOK 4 per. kilowatt time between 5pm and 6pm.
People come to want to know what they are paying for the electricity. Several power companies have experienced this.
High demand
– The app has worked, but it has been our time where it has been slower. We have had extremely high traffic, says Rolf Bjarne Eriksen, head of sales and customer service at the power company Los.
With record high electricity prices, many people make contact. Eriksen can tell that interest in electricity is high.
– Today we have had a run on both the customer center and the app that is well above average, he says.
Edgeir Vårdal Aksnes, CEO of Tibber also says that the progress has been great.
– We experienced an extreme onset last night and today early. Many users did not enter. It should now be resolved for most people, he says.
Customers are concerned
– Our customer center has of course noticed the power prices today. There is an extreme load on all incoming channels, both phone, e-mail, chat and on the app. Otherwise, we have also had challenges with the app today, says Ørjan Bøyum, daily leader in Kraftriket.
Bøyum says that congestion is a fundamental factor in capacity limitation.
– We are not escalated to handle the amount that has come today, because it has been quite extreme, he adds.
He says that they have never experienced such a great progress.
– I have not encountered anything like this before, and I have worked for many years in this market. There are many customers out there who are worried during the day, he says.
– That people follow and want to know what they pay for electricity, what does it mean for consumption?
– It can mean a lot. I think maybe not many people are able to reduce consumption so much, but maybe they are able to move consumption a little by having the insight they get via the app, says Bøyum.
High prices all winter
The power company hopes that the situation today is unique.
– We do not expect the same pressure in the future, but this week will probably be quite hectic, says Bøyum.
Power analyst Tor Reier Lilleholt, on the other hand, believes that people must be prepared for the fact that the high electricity prices will last all winter.
– The price to the end user, when taxes, VAT and all this is included, will on average be over NOK kilowatt hour throughout the winter, he says to NTB.
He emphasizes that we will also have weeks where prices will be far above and below this.
From 1 January, the government will introduce cuts in the electricity tax. The reduction will correspond to approx. 10 øre per kilowatt time.