Several electricity companies turn to complaints from the Consumer Council – VG

On 21 October, VG was able to report that the Consumer Council has complained to 29 power companies for extensive price cheating.

The Consumer Council is said to have found 58 agreements with the 29 electricity companies that contained a secret or hidden surcharge. The price will therefore be different from the one the company has envisioned for the customer when they have entered into the agreement.

Five days after VG first mentioned the case, the Consumer Council reports that a total of 16 companies have now removed the controversial purchase price agreement.

– Some agreements have now been withdrawn from the market, while others have been converted into spot agreements, where the entire price supplement is specified, says Inger Lise Blyverket, director of the Consumer Council.

Nevertheless, 13 companies and 32 purchase price agreements are still marked in red on the Consumer Council’s guide strømpris.no, and Blyverket is far from satisfied:

– It is unfortunately the case that the largest players continue their practice.

Her you can see the agreements that the Consumer Council warns against.

Encourages the industry to take action

The discussion about the electricity price agreements has now also reached the Storting.

Last week, parliamentary representative Ruth Grung (AP) submitted a written question to Minister of Energy Tina Bru in connection with VG’s case. Here she demands measures that will be implemented to prevent consumers from being deceived.

The question will be answered this week, but the minister tells VG that the purpose of the competition in the electricity market should be low prices and innovative products, not cheating.

– It should not lead to customers being cheated, Bru points out to VG.

She has now commissioned a review of the problems consumers experience in the electricity market.

– Then we must quickly consider what we can do to make it easier for consumers to orientate themselves in the market and choose the most favorable agreement for themselves, says Bru.

Minister of Consumer Affairs Kjell Ingolf Ropstad is also familiar with the case. He confirms to VG that part of the practice power companies have today may be illegal and that they have to consider introducing new rules.

– At the same time, we want to encourage the industry itself to take action and clean up – so that it becomes easier for consumers to make good choices, Ropstad points out.

Consumer Council: Enormous progress

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After the accusation against the 29 electricity companies became known, Blyverket says that they have had an enormous demand from consumers both by phone and e-mail.

– The traffic with us has doubled, and more than 35,000 visitors who have stopped by to check their agreement and change.

Several of the electricity companies have also contacted. While some have changed their practice, others insist they have done nothing illegal.

Among them is Fjordkraft, which is also one of the largest electricity companies that was complained about.

Communications adviser Jon Vaag Eikeland writes to VG that they do not recognize themselves in the accusations of price fraud or the examples the Consumer Council gives.

– We have not changed the terms of the agreement or removed the agreements following the Consumer Council’s proposal. We take this matter seriously and expect the Norwegian Consumer Agency to contact the actors. We will then answer any questions the Consumer Agency may have, Eikeland states.

ALSO READ: Alerts action against misleading power agreements

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Removes the fee temporarily

Norges Energi is one of the players still listed on strømpris.no’s blacklist, but VG’s marketing and communications manager in the company, Geir Arne Gundersen, tells VG that they have made changes to their agreements.

The changes will apply until the Consumer Agency has concluded in the case.

– We disagree with the Consumer Council when they claim that these agreements are not legal, but pending a possible decision from the Consumer Agency, we have chosen to remove the cost that separates the purchase price agreements from the spot price agreements, Gundersen writes.

He believes that the criticism was a failure, and that the Consumer Council went too hard when they claimed that the company uses a “secret” tax.

– This is a cost for the purchase of power, which for an average customer in Norges Energi amounts to about 20 kroner during a year. It is relatively far from Blyverket’s claim of “thousands of kroner”, Gundersen writes.