Power alliance bad news for Norway
In recent years, people and business in Norway have noticed on the body how destroyed our power market. A number of new foreign cables and increasingly closer connection to the EU’s energy union have provided high and very unstable electricity prices.
The power market turmoil has made it impossible to plan for businesses around the country, and done everything from the morning shower to dinner, unnecessary animals for ordinary people. It has been so bad that even the hottest defenders of the system, such as Energy Minister Aasland from Ap, has called the system « dysfunctional« .
Ever more EU
The problem is that Norway continues to be more closely connected to the « dysfunctional » current market in the EU. It has been particularly bad after Frp joined the Right, the Labor Party, the Left and the MDG on taking Norway into the EU’s energy agency ACER in 2018. Then a little later the Right opened two new large foreign cables to Germany and the United Kingdom in 2021.
It was very unwise. Just as we in the Center Party warned against, the electricity price has shot in the weather after the cables opened, and the EU rules stopped regulation of them.
This winter, in the Center Party, we fought hard, and refused to join the Labor Party’s plan to introduce the EU’s fourth energy market package in Norway. We said no to give us more power over our power. It is very unwise to give even more power to the EU when we see how bad EU energy policy is.
More national control
This spring, the Center Party and several other parties have made a number of proposals in the Storting to take more control of the electricity market and ensure lower electricity prices in Norway.
Among other things, we in the Center Party have proposed to say no to the EU’s fourth energy market package, stop further electrification of the shelf, renegotiate agreements on the latest foreign cables and take back the political control of Statnett.
Everything is voted down by the new power comrades Labor Party, Right and Left.
New cables to Denmark
Perhaps the most startling is that the Labor Party joins the Right to be allowed to continue its work on new foreign cables to Denmark, contrary to the decision of the Labor Party’s own national meeting. For the management and parliamentary group in Ap, the loyalty of the EU and the current market is obviously most important.
The EU wants more and more power over Norwegian energy policy. If we are to be able to stop Norway from becoming a full member of the EU’s energy union, where the goal is higher electricity prices in Norway, something must be done in the next parliamentary period.
We in the Center Party will use the power we get to take more national control over our power and block every attempt to sneak Norway in the EU.
