Electricity prices in Sweden will remain high for an extended period due to low reservoir levels and cold weather, according to analysts. In Bergs municipality in Jämtland, the local government is offering installment plans and investigating its own support to assist residents and associations. Criticism is directed at the national government for lacking state aid.
Electricity prices in Sweden have remained high into 2026, with average January prices around 0.9 kronor per kWh in the northern bidding zones and 1.1 kronor per kWh in the southern ones. February has started with prices around 1.25 kronor per kWh in the north and 1.3 kronor per kWh in the south, driven by low temperatures, high demand, and weak winds.
Christian Holtz, electricity price analyst at Merlin & Metis, explains that hydropower in Sweden and Norway is operating at full capacity, but reservoir fill levels are low for the season. “If the level in the reservoirs is lower, producers want more payment to run, which drives up prices,” he tells Tidningen Näringslivet. He forecasts high prices through February and March, likely until the spring flood replenishes the reservoirs.
Johan Sigvardsson, analyst at electricity company Bixia, adds that the low levels will affect prices at least until summer. “We won't make up this deficit in just a few weeks,” he has previously stated.
In Bergs municipality in Jämtland, high bills have hit residents hard. Municipal council chair Therese Kärngard (S) cites cases where pensioners with 13,000 kronor monthly income receive electricity bills of 8,000 kronor. The municipality is now offering installment plans for payments and investigating municipal electricity support for associations running leisure activities, including community halls and a cinema. They also plan training to reduce electricity costs.
Kärngard calls for state aid: “A state electricity support is needed now.” She criticizes the Aurora Line electricity cable to Finland for raising prices: “One should not have agreed to the cable to Finland.” State support activates only at average prices above 1.50 kronor per kWh per month, a level not reached since the winter of 2022/2023.
Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson expresses understanding: “I understand that the high electricity prices affect many families.” She blames previous Social Democratic governments' shutdown of nuclear power and notes that the government has allocated 2.4 billion kronor for high-cost protection, but it has not yet been implemented.
