High electricity prices in Sweden are forcing single mother Angelica Hjelm, 31, to move from her villa in Bräcke, Jämtland. Her January bill reached 8,000 kronor, and February looks set to be even more expensive. Energy economist Claes Hemberg describes the situation as a crisis on the electricity market.
Angelica Hjelm, 31, lives in a villa in Bräcke, Jämtland, with her two children. With rising electricity prices, she sees no alternative but to move to an apartment. When speaking to Expressen, she described her January bill of 8,000 kronor and expressed concern about the next one.
"It’s clear that one thinks about it and hopes the next won’t be as awful. But it will probably land there too. I don’t really know what to expect," she says.
She cannot reduce heating without risking frozen pipes, making the situation unsustainable during winter. "The plan is to move to an apartment, that’s what I’m going to do. We’re looking now. It feels tough. It does, but winters like this just don’t work," she adds.
Bräcke is in electricity area 2, where the average price in January was 88 öre per kilowatt-hour. In February, it has increased by about 24 percent to 109 öre per kilowatt-hour. Nationally, the average has risen by 19 percent.
Claes Hemberg, energy economist at Nibe, warns of continued high prices. Tomorrow, prices are expected to exceed 5 kronor per kilowatt-hour in three of four electricity areas, driven by cold weather, low hydropower, little wind, and high exports to Finland. "It’s a crisis on the electricity market. It’s about thousands of extra kronor that people have to pay that they’re not prepared for," he says.
Hemberg recommends using electricity during low-price hours to save up to 30–50 percent and urges authorities to demand more support from electricity companies, such as automatic solutions for consumers.
