Hafslund Strøm raised its maximum price guarantee cap from 99 øre per kWh to NOK 1.56 after an “extreme case”. – Zero value if the ceiling can be raised when prices rise, says the advisor in the Consumer Council.
Electricity prices have risen sharply this year. This is the Skjerkevatn dam in Åseral the previous year.
“Did you remember to protect yourself from expensive electricity this winter?” Hafslund Strøm asks on its website, in an announcement about the company’s maximum price agreement.
But committed electricity customers will notice that the company’s cap price has increased significantly during 2021, as electricity prices have soared.
Presact It was earlier this year at 59.90 øre per kilowatt-hour, but was set at 99.90 øre as of June 1. From 1 September, Hafslund Strøm raised the maximum price again to 1.56 NOK per kWh.
“Unfortunately, we are now in a difficult situation where electricity prices here at home and abroad in Europe are terribly unpredictable, which is also reflected in the price ceiling for this period,” wrote CIO Tobias Josemel Back at Hafslund Ström. Mail to E24.
In summer and autumn, electricity prices in southern Norway rise to new levels. So far in September, the price is NOK 1.09 per kilowatt-hour, according to figures from the energy exchange Nord Poll. The average price has increased significantly throughout the year, and was 75 øre per kWh in August.
So far, the price guarantee was activated in just one hour in September. Between 8 and 9 a.m. on September 6, the price of electricity in southern Norway was 1.59 ounces per kilowatt-hour, according to Nord Bull.
Is the price cap agreement set up this fall? E24 tip at [email protected].
Senior advisor Thomas Iverson at the Consumer Council.
– extreme case
Hafslund Strom has no connection with the municipal energy company Hafslund E-Co. Hafslund Strøm was acquired by Finnish Fortum in 2017, but it still operates under the Hafslund name.
In February, the average price was well above the Hafslund cap of 59.9 øre in a few days. In August, the price was above 1 kWh per kilowatt-hour for a few odd hours, so the maximum price of 99.9 øre was exceeded.
Hafslund Strøm raised its maximum price guarantee to 1.56 NOK per kWh in September.
“We always try to ensure the best possible price for our customers, and at the same time what the ceiling comes close to depends on how the electricity market in general,” Buck writes.
– When the price cap was set at 99.90 øre this summer, few people thought it would hit, but it happened in August. The same also happened when the maximum price was 59.90 euros in the first quarter of this year, he writes.
Zero value
Owner Referred to in 2019 It is very rare for the price of electricity to be so high that the maximum price guarantee from Hafslund Strøm applies.
The Consumer Council’s senior adviser Thomas Iverson is critical of this type of agreement.
– Securing the price at zero if it is possible to raise the ceiling when prices rise. In that sense, the agreement lives up to its name, as you’re guaranteed to pay the maximum price for electricity, Iversen writes in an email to E24.
Hafslund Strøm’s “Maximum Price Guarantee” agreement costs NOK 39 per month, plus customers pay 2 øre per kWh as an additional fee. The Consumer Council believes that such services are rarely worth what you pay for.
“Unfortunately, this is just another example of how Hafslund and other electricity sales companies profit from paying meaningless additional services to their customers,” Iversen wrote.
The price of electricity has exceeded 1.56 NOK per kilowatt-hour in 18 odd hours so far this year. In the most expensive single hour this year on February 12, electricity cost NOK 2.57 per kilowatt-hour.
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– Lots guaranteed to save
Backe in Hafslund Strøm points out that a maximum price guarantee should be viewed as insurance for those who want predictability and security.
– For example, you do not take out travel insurance in the hope that you will have to use it, but to minimize the consequences if something happens, he writes.
The Consumer Council recommends that electricity customers check their bill and see if they are paying for electricity insurance, electricity ceilings or green electricity guarantee, and demand their termination.
– Also feel free to check your electricity agreement against the ones above strømpris.no. Iverson writes that he also guarantees that many will be saved.
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