The story of Meløy Energi started in March.
In just a few hours, Meløy Energi got over 800 customers they didn’t really want.
The company has been selling very lucrative fixed-price contracts to people in southern Norway. An agreement they themselves said should have been removed.
Through the Facebook group ‘Prismatch Strøm’, 60,000 Norwegians saw the offer and many chose to sign.
Subsequently, Meløy Energi struggled with bankruptcy and it all came to a head when the company offered southern customers money to cancel the deals.
They therefore wanted to get rid of 800 customers in southern Norway.
Now another change is taking place:
Meløy Energi transfers all local customers to another Northern Norwegian company: Polar Kraft.
This means that Meløy Energi now only has customers in Southern Norway, customers they have been trying to get rid of for a long time.
– There have been higher demands on power companies and at the same time it is a high-risk sector, which we experienced in 2022, says chairman Rolf-Inge Sleipnes to NRK.
They avoided bankruptcy
But selling electricity customers isn’t about bringing in more money, Sleipnes says.
– This sale is not related to the fact that we owe money due to the loss. This is a work that has been going on for several years.
Rolf-Inge Sleipnes is Chairman of the Board of Meløy Energi.
Photo: Marius Eriksen Guttormsen / NRK
For a long time things went so badly for the municipal company that Sleipnes had to inform the owners that the company was in danger of bankruptcy.
This has now been cancelled.
– There is no risk of failure. All employees are informed that the company will not go bankrupt.
– How real was the risk of bankruptcy?
– It was very real. Losses for the entire period amount to NOK 50-60 million. If the electricity price reached NOK 4, we had not secured a volume of electricity and nobody accepted the offer to withdraw from the fixed price agreement, then we would have had to tender.
– What would you say to customers who have accepted the offer and who have now helped to save the company?
– I’m very happy about it. They were important for us to find a solution. I would like to thank those who accepted.
In a press release, director Børge Skaret Selstad describes that the energy industry is changing through new requirements and legislative changes.
“End-user sales are a high-risk market, with little local employment effect and marginal profitability, which is further pressured by new point requirements.” they write.
Furthermore, they explain that it takes a lot of resources for a small operator to offer a full range of products.
– With only 4-5,000 customers, we will not make money selling electricity to end customers. And we won’t be able to compete with the big names, continues Sleipnes.
He says only one in 32 man-years at the company has been connected to selling electricity to customers.
– I compare it to an old post office. At some point, you’ll need to organize into larger units, Sleipnes says.
Keeping customers in the South
According to the company, they worked for over two years to sell customers to another company.
However, this has dragged on due to Southern customers.
“Now the company is able to complete this process.” they write.
The customers from Northern and Central Norway have now moved to Polar Kraft and Meløy Energi describes this as a future-oriented solution.
So what happens to customers in southern Norway?
“Meløy Energi will continue to meet its obligations to fixed-price customers in the south.” they write.
Sleipnes will not say anything about how much Polar Kraft paid to buy the customer portfolio.
– What I can say is that we have been in talks with several actors, and we are absolutely sure that we now have a good deal for us. Now we don’t have to receive a single penny from our landlords.
