This autumn, YouGov has repeated a survey from 2021 commissioned by Gudbrandsdal Energi. In 2021, 58 per cent of those asked answered that they had become more concerned with electricity prices. In autumn 2024, 73 per cent answer the same. There is thus an increase of 15 percentage points in three years when it comes to how concerned people are with electricity prices.
– People have generally become more price conscious because prices are increasing. Since 2021, we have also seen that the increased prices bring increased attention. Power prices have become a daily part of the news, says general manager Marius Røed Sveipe at the power supplier Gudbrandsdal Energi to NTB.
48 per cent say this year that they feel that the electricity bill cuts into the family budget to a fairly large or very large extent. In 2021, 39 percent answered the same.
– The fact that more people feel more about electricity prices now can also be reinforced by the fact that the prices of most things have gone up in the last three years, says Sveipe.
Complicated online rental
A nationally representative sample of 1,016 people is included in this autumn’s survey. They are also asked to what extent they understand what online rent covers, after several years of changes and delays to the rules.
Here it turns out that 51 per cent either do not understand the principles surrounding the online rental or do not feel that they have fully understood them. Only 17 percent respond that they understand very well what online rent covers.
– Online rental has become more complicated. Not least, it is challenging to understand the calculation method. We have always tried to explain to customers why electricity prices fluctuate. We have now reached the point where the online rent has increased and has become a significant part of the electricity bill, while the average price of electricity has decreased, says Sveipe
– We believe the online providers are the key to explaining how and to what extent customers can do something about online rental expenses themselves, he says.
48 per cent respond that the increased online rent makes them worried about their private finances to a large or moderate extent, while 37 per cent are to a small extent worried. 15 percent are not worried at all. Sveipe guesses that those who are most worried are those who do not understand the mechanisms behind the rising prices.
– They should be told that the online rent is increasing, but it probably varies to what extent they get an explanation as to why. People should get an easy explanation, without industry jargon, of the price increases, and find out what the money is actually going to.
Net rent was supposed to go down, but became more expensive
The electricity bill is traditionally made up of two elements: Payment for the electricity you use and for the costs of transporting the electricity.
The energy company receives money for the electricity, while the freight is included in the online rent. The electricity rent is paid to the company that builds out and maintains the electricity grid in the area where you have property.
New rules came in the summer of 2022, where the network companies had to introduce prices that would inspire people to use the network and electricity more efficiently. Part of the net rent was “fixed based on effect”. With more consistent power use, such as charging the car slowly at night, the net rent would decrease.
Over time, the rules should result in lower network costs for electricity customers, but many have so far only experienced an increase in the network rent. At the same time, there are large variations both in the various parts of the online rental and the electricity prices, depending on where in the country you live.
according to NVE’s online rental statistics the total internet rent with Norwegian internet providers has increased by 18 per cent on average from October 2022 to October 2024. Until 2030, internet rent will increase by a further 25 per cent on average, according to The regulatory authority for energy in NVE (RME).
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