Many Swedish households have been hit by sharply increased electricity bills for January due to high electricity prices and raised network fees. Prices in northern Sweden have been almost four times higher than last year, leading to concern among customers. Grid companies like Vattenfall and Ellevio justify the increases with necessary investments in infrastructure.
In January 2023, electricity prices in Sweden have surged due to cold weather, low wind, and a new power line to Finland affecting prices in the north. Many households have also faced raised network fees at the turn of the year, worsening the situation. Vattenfall increased fees by an average of 14 percent on January 1, while Ellevio raised them by 4.6 percent for house customers.
Single mother Lisa Lundqvist, 40, in Arvidsjaur received a bill of 11,900 kronor from Vattenfall, the highest amount she has ever experienced. “It is the most expensive I have ever been through. My Sunday was gloomy after that and my thoughts swirled – how is this going to work out?”, she says. Lisa works as a childcare assistant and lives in a house where temperatures have reached minus 30–40 degrees. She has tried to save by lowering the heat, taking short showers, and nagging her four children to turn off lights, but the bill takes a large part of her salary.
Similar concern is expressed by Angelica Hjelm, 31, in Bräcke, Jämtland, whose bill rose to 8,800 kronor from 3,700 kronor last month. The family uses an airfryer instead of the oven and takes quick showers, but Angelica questions the increases: “Spontaneously, it does not feel like they really need to raise the electricity prices so much, they are already making a profit.”
Vattenfall's press secretary Markus Fischer explains: “The fee increase goes entirely to improving and developing the electricity grid in our grid areas and benefits all customers and society as a whole.” He mentions that the funds are used to maintain the grid, weatherproof lines, and increase capacity for solar and wind power as well as charging infrastructure. Ellevio's press chief Jesper Liveröd emphasizes the investment needs: “We are facing huge investments. We need to replace, modernize, and expand the electricity grids.” He points out that at least 55 percent of the network fee is tax and VAT, and suggests stopping the indexing of the energy tax, which has increased from 4 öre to 54.9 öre per kilowatt-hour between 1980 and 2025. The government lowered the tax by 10 öre at the turn of the year, to the current 45 öre including VAT.
Both Lisa and Angelica are worried about upcoming bills and wonder how they will make ends meet.
