Confirms suspension of electricity sales

UTØYA (Dagbladet): Jonas Gahr Støre confirms to Dagbladet that the government will introduce measures that stop the sale of electricity abroad during periods when the power is needed in Norway.

– The government is working to present measures to ensure magazine filling in Norway, confirms the Prime Minister.

– Norway will quickly become unpopular on the continent if we stop selling electricity?

– Every country has a responsibility to ensure that its power system is maintained. When Norway has record low reservoir filling, the government must ensure that those reservoirs are restored and become reliable suppliers of power. Both exports and production are affected while the magazines are filled up, he says.

Yesterday it became known that finance minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum (Sp) will further strengthen the electricity support for Ola and Kari Nordmann.

In practical terms, the government will now therefore stop exporting electricity when the degree of filling in the water reservoirs falls below a given level.

Støre says impatient electricity customers can expect news soon.

– I don’t think it will take long to put this in place. We will come back very soon to how exactly we want to introduce this, says Støre.

– Many still think that your government has spent too long?

– I understand that people are impatient – this is an extraordinary situation, and we must be prepared that it will last. The war in Ukraine is not over in the short term. But the government has put comprehensive solutions in place in a very short time. We got Europe’s most comprehensive electricity support in place quickly, after Erna Solberg’s government did not lift a finger, says Støre.

At the same time, the Labor leader says that the government is keen to work both short-term and long-term with the demanding power situation in Europe.

– We cannot turn our power system upside down overnight, either. This is a system that has served us well until last year, says the Prime Minister.

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