Sends out neighbor alert | The class struggle
NOTIFY: Soon Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland will receive a letter from Venstres Ola Elvestuen. There he warns against Norway’s plan for lower electricity exports.
The government will limit electricity exports to Europe in order to ensure the balance of supply to Norway and more stable electricity prices.
Ola Elvestuen and Venstre think it is a bad idea – so bad that they are now writing to the Nordic governments to warn them about what is happening – and get them to reject all proposals.
– The electricity price crisis applies to the whole of Europe, and we must stand together to solve it, says Elvestuen and insisted:
– This means that we must say no to all attempts to limit the exchange of power to the Nordics and to Europe.
Travel to Copenhagen
Once a year, a selection of parliamentarians from the Nordic countries meet in Copenhagen to discuss issues that concern all countries in the Nordic Council. Next week, Elvestuen will compete for Norway.
He will use the opportunity to warn about the signals from the Norwegian government, he says. In the proposal to the Elvestuen, he asks them, among other things, to agree to “set aside all proposals to limit the exchange of power between the countries”.
Among other things, the government has announced a scheme to limit electricity exports when the level of water reservoirs becomes low enough.
Several, such as parliamentary leader Marit Arnstad in the Center Party, have argued that over time we should export less electricity abroad than what we are used to now.
In the proposal that the Elvestuen must take up in the Nordic Council, he must say that all proposals from the Nordic governments are rejected outright.
– When the government now sends so many signals that they are looking at possibilities to limit Norwegian exchange, then it is serious. It is serious for our credibility as a cooperation partner, but it is also serious for the Nordic countries that depend on Nordic power exchange, he says.
Cables against Putin
Several parties in the Storting have pointed to the ever-increasing sum of foreign bills as an explanation for why we currently have such high electricity prices, also in Norway. Traditionally, we have had lower prices than the rest of Europe. For its part, Elvestuen believes that connecting with Europe with the help of foreign ships has our advantage.
“We must say no to all attempts to limit the exchange of power to the Nordics and to Europe”
— OLA ELVESTUEN (LEFT)
– Electricity prices in Europe are driven up by the war. Now Europe must get rid of Russian gas, and then we must stand together in that effort. The international route must be completely open, he says.
FRP is raging
Storting representative and energy policy spokesperson Marius Arion Nilsen in the Progressive Party dislikes the proposal for the former government comrade the Liberal Party very much.
– It’s very nice that Elvestuen is trying to be a kind of foreign minister here, he says and adds:
– This is an internal discussion in Norway, and Elvestuen should think about who he is representing. It seems as if he is more interested in everything else, even just looking at Norwegian residents and Norwegian business life.
Frp is also a supporter of limiting the export of electricity abroad.
The government should make progress in that work, they believe.
– There is no reason why we should have the electricity prices we now have, which are sometimes among the most expensive in Europe, says Nilsen and criticizes Elvestuen for having the wrong focus.
– There is no solidarity in Norwegian pensioners having to freeze through the winter. Elvestuen seems to have forgotten what the job of a Norwegian politician is, namely to work for the Norwegian people, he says.