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Norway’s Prime Minister warns that high energy prices could continue for years

Frazer Norwell
Frazer Norwell - [email protected]
Norway’s Prime Minister warns that high energy prices could continue for years
Norway's PM, Jonas Gahr Støre, has warned that high energy prices could continue for years. Pictured is a thermostat on a wall. Photo by Erik Mclean on Unsplash

Skyrocketing energy prices in Norway could continue for up to three years, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre warned on Sunday.

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Following a summer of record electricity prices in southern Norway, Norwegian PM Jonas Gahr Støre has explained that high prices are unlikely to subside anytime soon.

“We know that we are entering a year where a lot will be required of us,” he told Norwegian newswire NTB.

South-east Norway has seen several prices broken already, during a period of the year typically associated with much lower prices than the winter.

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“We have our own hydropower, which we must use in the very best way. But we have Europe in an energy crisis as a result of the war in Ukraine, gas not being supplied, and nuclear power being shut down. Although coal-fired power is now being started, coal is also on its way out of the mix. And there has been little wind.” Støre said.

READ MORE: Why energy prices in Norway will continue to rise this winter

“So, I think we have to worry about the fact that this is not over any time soon. It can take one, two or three years,” he warned.
Despite the high prices, Støre has once again played down talk of a potential price cap on electricity this winter.

While he said it was an option the government was considering, he warned that a price cap could come with several consequences.

“(A) max price sounds simple and straightforward, and I understand that many people think it sounds enticing. But there are many weighty reasons against it,” Støre said.

Firstly, he said that a price cap could lead to power rationing as a maximum cost would lead to water reservoirs being depleted sooner. He added that the cap would also need to be high enough to allow Norway to import energy from abroad and that it could lead to power firms being bankrupted.

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