– I haven’t paid my electricity bills for a whole year.
This is what Sascha Liberté tells Nettavisen.
He was one of the many who showed up in front of the Storting on Monday to demonstrate against the high prices of electricity. Liberté says he is not the only one to refuse to pay, and he is himself active in the “Io non pago” group.
– This is a non-payment campaign inspired by the “Don’t pay UK” initiative in Great Britain. We have decided that we will not pay more than 50 øre per kilowatt hour, explains Liberté.
He describes electricity prices as “electricity fraud” and it is clear why it is important to protest.
– This applies to all of us, in the end, even if it does not concern everyone at the moment, says Liberté.
Liberté is not his real surname, but the name he uses on the internet. Nettavisen knows this Legal name of Liberté.
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Don’t be afraid of debt collection
Liberté says he doesn’t even pay 50 øre per kilowatt hour. Instead, he lets all of his electricity bills go to debt collection.
He doesn’t care much about it.
– Debt collection doesn’t matter. Debt collection is disputed. A contested complaint cannot be processed, says Liberté.
The only thing Liberté has paid for electricity in the last year is the Internet rent.
– The only thing I’ve paid is the online rent. It is to maintain the customer relationship with the online company.
He also explains that network companies have a delivery obligation. This means that he can still get the electricity delivered, even if he doesn’t pay for it.
– The power company can turn off the power, but the grid company has a delivery obligation, he explains.
The online newspaper saw documentation that the power company sent an invoice with a principal amount of over NOK 13,000 for debt collection.
– I have informed both the electricity company, the grid company and the collection agency that I am fully prepared to pay up to 50 øre / kWh for electricity and that in that case they just have to send me an updated invoice.
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– It can quickly get expensive
Consumer economist Lene Drange advises against doing as Liberté does, she believes it will only lead to even more expensive bills.
Paying just the grid rent ensures that the electricity is not cut off, but failure to pay for the power will result in the outage and you will eventually get what is called mandatory supply, which is extra expensive electricity, explains Drange.
He adds that contesting debt collection claims isn’t a good long-term solution either.
– You’re just delaying a problem by disputing the requirements for no good reason. There is no long-term solution, he says.
Drange is supported by Cecilie Tvetenstrand. She is a consumer economist at Storebrand.
– In the worst case, it can lead to a foreclosure and forced sale. It’s generally a bad idea not to pay the bill, Tvetenstrand points out.
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– Many have stopped paying
Liberté states that the Facebook group for “I don’t pay” is constantly growing and at the time of writing it is made up of nearly 4,000 members. Even if not everyone has joined the refusal to pay, the case has many supporters, we believe Liberté.
– Of course, not everyone does, but there are some who have now stopped paying. In the UK, last time I saw over 200,000 people they said they would stop paying on October 1st, she says.
He adds that the group views electricity price differences in the country as an electricity fraud and has no plans to give up anytime soon.
– I intend to take it to the judiciary if necessary, notes Liberté.
The protester also points out that Øystein Stray Spetalen supports the idea and refers to the case of Nettavisen, in which Spetalen said that people should refuse to pay more than 30 øre.
Men Liberté points out that they are not inspired by Spetalen, but thinks it is good that he has proposed similar measures.
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