The government presents electricity support for business on Friday – NRK Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
Intensive work has been going on in recent days to put in place and arrangement with support for Norwegian companies that are affected by high electricity prices.
– We have worked closely with the parties in working life to get proper input from them about the needs, says Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre to NRK on Friday morning.
The system they have arrived at is described by Støre as defined, purposeful and green.
– It is a limited arrangement that will also help us use less electricity. It is a green and responsible scheme.
The details will be presented at 10 o’clock.
This is included in the package
This will be part of the support scheme for companies, sources inform NRK:
- A direct support scheme. It will apply to companies where more than 3 per cent of the costs go to electricity. These will have 25 per cent of electricity costs over 70 øre covered.
- An enøk scheme that enables companies that want to take measures for energy efficiency to apply for extra support. These will be able to have 45 per cent of costs over 70 øre covered.
The package will accordingly TV2 also contains:
- Loan scheme – There will be a loan guarantee scheme to ensure liquidity, for most companies it will be a matter of getting over the hurdle before they can come under the new fixed price regime that the government has arranged for through tax changes.
- Energy grant – An application-based scheme through Enova, which includes the following steps: You can first get support if you carry out energy mapping, then you can get more support if you actually do eco-friendly measures such as solar cells and other things.
- Dividend ban – Dividend ban in 2023 for anyone who receives support in one form or another.
This has also been confirmed by NRK.
In addition, NRK can experience:
- 20,000 companies will be part of the scheme. The biggest companies will be outside.
- There will be a payment ceiling for support of 3.5 million, regardless of the size of the company.
- The government calculates that the entire electricity scheme for businesses will cost 3 billion this year.
Agreement between the parties
The Government, LO, NHO and Virke have been involved in the work. They have now come to an agreement, sources inform NRK.
They must have worked all night to get the details of the arrangement in place.
As far as NRK is aware, the Minister of Business and Industry has himself been directly involved in the negotiations.
Worked for a long time on the details
Authorities must have been given to complete the work during the night, according to what NRK understands.
The support measures will initially last until 2022, according to NRK’s sources. However, there may also be support for business in next year’s state budget, which will be presented on 6 October.
Industry Minister Jan Christian Vestre’s (Ap) main move towards business is, however, already known. There will be a tax-related change from the new year that the government must make it more favorable for companies to enter into fixed price agreements.
In connection with the electricity support package, however, there will be clear calls for the power companies to start selling and marketing this well before the new year, according to NRK’s sources.
Regardless of how the details of the scheme turn out in the end, there are strong incentives for Enøk measures.
Worked on getting NHO involved
On 8 August, the government sat down with LO and NHO to discuss a scheme with electricity support for businesses. The parties also met weeks later and again last Friday. In recent days, however, much has been about getting NHO on board, according to what NRK understands.
Both Virke and LO are said to have been relatively satisfied with the sketch the government put on the table almost a week ago. But NHO has stood firm on the demand for a direct subsidy scheme.
– NHO has always been concerned that there must be a direct subsidy scheme at the bottom of an electricity package for business, said NHO chief Ole Erik Almlid last Friday.
Already in January, he was out with demands that the government must come to the aid of business because of the high electricity prices.