pic: svd.se
SvD.se reports today that the Swedish government is ready to go against the EU when it comes to regulating electricity companies. As reported earlier in this blog, and indeed it comes up repeatedly in Swedish news, the cost of electricity has rocketed upwards in large parts of this generally cold and snowy/rainy country.
In a perfect world, electricity prices should only rise when the income is needed for improvements in the electricity infrastructure. However, this has not happened, says the government: Prices have gone up but the infrastructure has not been improved upon. Furthermore, Minister for Energy and Digital Development Anders Ygeman says, while electricity companies can have a reasonable profit, they shouldn’t be able to profit at the expense of the consumer (). Therefore, the government wants their Swedish Energy Markets Inspectorate ( it’s less of a mouthful in Swedish – “energimarknadsinspektion”) to regulate it more, and presumably better.
Here’s where it gets tricky: The EU says no. According to the EU Commission, the government’s proposals go too far and too much against the EU’s energy market directive.
Sweden doesn’t agree (and neither does Germany, who wants to regulate its electricity companies more too). For its part, Sweden is going ahead with its new regulations, which are to take effect starting 2020. Lucky electricity consumers who have been hit hard by price increases can hope for up to a 20% cut in their elecricity bill.
Stay tuned for the EU’s response to these crazy rebels.