The cold has struck at a time when wind power was producing less than normal and water supplies were unusually low. In addition, the new export pipeline to Finland and high electricity prices in Europe have contributed to Swedish electricity prices rising to their highest level in several years.
In January, Kamilla Olesen received an electricity bill of SEK 9,500 in Niemisel, Luleå municipality. It’s almost three times what the family normally pays in the winter.
“It affects us a lot, we couldn’t even heat the house,” she says.
In order to keep electricity prices low, the family has switched off the heat pump in the basement, installed a geothermal system and plans to additionally insulate the villa. They recently purchased a stove to support the fire during the coldest times.
– We haven’t showered at home for a month. “You don’t feel comfortable when you have to think that it should be warm enough to feel good physically and cold enough to feel good mentally,” says Kamilla Olesen.
Also Hannes Olsson in Märsta in the north of Stockholm received a bill for around 10,000 euros for electricity consumption in January.
– We live in a small villa, it’s not like a castle. But we have direct-acting electricity as a form of heating and a lot of electricity will be used in winter this year, he says.
To reduce costs, the family turned down the heating, purchased an air source heat pump, purchased solar panels and replaced the roof and all windows.
– In the ten years we have lived here, the price has increased by several hundred percent. “We have invested so much to reduce electricity consumption, but we are still at this level,” says Hannes Olsson.
– It’s not a funny issue and above all it’s this powerlessness that you can’t do anything.
Kristina Eksholm, who also spoke to P4 Norbotten, lives with her husband and father in the village of Matojärvi in Övertorneå. During the coldest winter months, she previously paid around six thousand euros, but when the bill for last month’s electricity consumption came, she was close to fainting.
– It said 16,300 crowns. To put it bluntly, people are angry because it is such an incredible amount of money, she says.
Kristina Eksholm and her husband Karl-Göran spent large sums on replacing the heat pump, adding insulation and installing new windows to keep the heat in.
– We have two stoves and a wood-fired sauna, so we don’t have to be freezing cold inside. “We are so cold that it is below minus 30 degrees for at least a week every year,” says Kristina Eksholm.
– I can afford to pay, but then I have to miss out on something nice that I would otherwise do. For example, being able to travel. The gold edge disappears.
