– Norway would have less power without – NRK Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
The Høgre leader is on a bus tour, where she has seen everything from forged iron products to nude bathing at the Tree Boat Festival in Risør.
At least as hot is the debate about the high electricity prices. In recent weeks, more and more parties have advocated for faster measures.
It has also led to years of criticism against the power cables from Norway to abroad, and the collaboration with the EU’s energy agency Acer.
In a statement on Thursday, engineer Roar Moen claims that it is Acer and the power cables that are the problem behind the high electricity prices.
“For the ‘power export’ to stop, the power price must be the same on both sides of the cable,” he writes.
Senior manager Erna Solberg has been involved in introducing the agreement with Acer. She rejects the criticism bluntly to NRK.
– Acer has no influence on this. Acer has not made a single decision related to this. This is from those in No to the EU who have been doing this before as well, she says of the statement.
Pointing to the Ukraine war
In front of NRK, she emphasizes that Norwegian consumers in the last 30 years have counted on cable development and on market-determined price for electricity.
– Now we are in a crisis because of gas and Ukraine, because there is a war in Europe. We must not forget that this is the scenario: Not Acer, but the war in Europe and partly the low resistance in southern Norway, states the Høgre leader.
She believes we need the power cables to ensure that we can import power from abroad when Norway itself is struggling with power production.
It was the Stoltenberg government that entered into an agreement to develop the power cables, but the Solberg government put in place the agreement to have them laid out.
– When they introduced the power cables, did they see that this could happen?
– At the time, all the analyzes were that it would result in a more even power price in Norway, that it could be a couple of cents higher, but that it would result in a more stable power situation going forward. The scenario we have now is completely different from what it was then. The fact that we would have war in Europe and challenges with gas in the future was not part of the scenario at the time.
Points to professional advice about the cables
– Would you have done things differently if you knew it could turn out like this?
– I think these are only hypothetical questions, which are completely unnatural say something about. We make decisions based on the professional recommendations and advice we receive, when we receive them. And then it may well be thought that if we had received other professional advice, we would have made different decisions, but we received this professional advice at the time, says Solberg.
Now she is preoccupied with security of supply to Norway.
– Bad must ensure that we have the opportunity to bring in power from other places. We would have less power in Norway today if we had not had cables. At that time, it would not have been perceived as profitable to develop power in Norway. Many of the extra power developments we have had in recent years would hardly have been seen as profitable with surplus power that we did not know how to handle.
– But there have been critics all along, both against Acer and the power cables. Why haven’t they been listened to more?
– Our best professional reviews therefore showed different things. Using the war situation in Europe as proof that what the Acer critics said was correct is wrong.
Gets reprimanded by Listhaug
Now Høgre and Frp are also at odds with each other.
FRP leader Sylvi Listhaug was quick to chastise Høgre leader Erna Solberg’s proposal on Wednesday to increase electricity support for people by one month.
– This simply didn’t work, Erna!
That’s what Listhaug says Facebook page. She goes so far as to call Høgre “the biggest brake on us getting political control over the power crisis”.
In front of NRK, Solberg on the contrary rejects Høgre is no brake pad. In addition, he attacks the politics of the Frp.
– The solutions the FRP has put forward will not manage any power crisis. They have put forward proposals that we have voted against because we think they are wrong, says the Høgre leader.
She believes that one of the FRP’s proposals risks making the power crisis worse, even if people get to pay less.
Rejects the maximum price for electricity
The FRP leader lists the following issues for which she lacks support from Høgre:
- 50 øre maximum price for electricity for households and businesses.
- scrap electrification of the shelf.
- set requirements for magazine filling.
- limit electricity exports abroad.
Regarding the proposal for a maximum price, Solberg points out that it does not help people save electricity, which they should now when there is a shortage of power.
– Then there are more things than electricity that are important: petrol prices, interest rates and so on. We must look at targeted measures for those who have less financial leeway, says the Høgre leader.
She also distinguishes between measures for households and businesses, and says they will return to the latter.
Will consider export suspension
The Støre government is now looking at several measures, such as stopping power exports when the security of supply is unsafe.
Solberg is not completely dismissive of NRK.
– We have to look at how they set it up. For example, in a rainy autumn, especially in the East, so we get to fill up the water tank.