LILLESAND (VG) Erna Solberg demands a new scheme to help the companies that use the most energy. She also wants power municipalities and counties to contribute more.
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– For seven months, the Labor Party and the Center Party have actively chosen not to help companies and workplaces. It is far too bad, says Høyre leader Erna Solberg.
The government is under heavy pressure to come along new measures against the electricity crisis.
Among what they work onand which the Conservative Party has demanded, are better power support schemes for a businesses that are struggling with multiple bills.
VG has earlier this week spoke with Butcher Jens Eide in Lillesand, who have had their electricity bills multiply in the past year.
ALSO READ: Right: Norway can pay its way out of the power crisis
–– Another approach is needed
On Friday, Erna Solberg is visiting Jens Eide, where she outlines what she thinks new business support should look like.
– A different approach is needed, she says, and points out that there are many companies which are not initially power-intensive, but which usually have electricity as a large part of their fixed expenses.
Solberg points to Luxembourg, which has a scheme where they provide support to companies where expenditure on energy normally amounts to at least three per cent of operating costs. Then the state covers a percentage of the additional costs due to the high prices.
– Exactly where the border should go in Norway and what percentage is the government’s best basis for making a decision.
–– No possibility of survival
Earlier this week, Jens Eide told VG that he fears bankruptcy if nothing is done about the high bills.
The slaughterhouse normally has electricity expenses of between NOK 150,000 and 200,000 per month. In recent months, the bill has exceeded NOK 700,000, according to eide.
Actually, Eide wants the maximum price for electricity, something the Conservative Party is against.
– Without something happening now, we have no chance of surviving. At least something is happening, he says, after hearing the proposal from Erna Solberg.
But he says he has hope that when all the parties in the Storting meet on Monday, with different opinions, they will be able to come up with something that works.
Last week electricity prices rose to record highswith big differences between north and south.
Here you get an overview of the electricity situation where you live.
–Demands that power municipalities pay more
In an earlier interview with VG earlier Friday, the Conservative leader emphasized that she means the power system in Norway works, but that especially Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and Russian pressure on Europe have led to the situation we are in now.
And she asked too municipalities and counties that are profiting well from the electricity crisis to give the money back to the struggling business sector. She repeats this message when she proposes a new electricity subsidy:
– Those who profit from the high price are the municipalities that own the power companies. In any case, they must not call the state and say they need electricity support before they look at how their own power income is used, Erna Solberg told VG.
She repeats this message during her visit to the butcher. She says she expects that the municipalities and counties that make money from the power will also contribute to keeping business afloat.
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