You pay for both grid rent and electricity. The price varies and the total amount depends on how much electricity you use,
At the moment, electricity distribution to primary residences and holiday homes is charged at the rate of NOK 0.4174/kWh. This is the price charged from septemer to april. In addition, there is a fixed monthly charge of NOK 287.50. The amount you pay in electricity distribution charges will therefore vary according to your consumption. The electricity distribution charge comes on top of the amount you must pay for the electricity you actually use.
You must also purchase electricity from a power supplier. This is in addition to the grid rent. Imagine that electricity is a commodity you buy. You pay for both the item and the transportation to your home. The grid rent can be compared to the shipping cost.
The charge is intended to cover the costs Lede has in connection with the building and maintenance of the electricity distribution network. You pay your electricity supplier for the electricity you use.
The electricity distribution charge is divided into several parts:
Fixed charge
This is a fixed amount everyone must pay to be connected to the electricity distribution network, no matter how much electricity they use.
Energy-related component
You pay a price per kWh of electricity you use. Someone who uses a lot of electricity uses the distribution network more, and therefore pays a larger share of the cost of its upkeep. If you only use a little electricity, you pay a smaller amount. The price per kWh is slightly lower in the summer than in the winter.
Taxes and public charges
Several public charges are collected via the electricity distribution charge, and are included in the energy-related component. Public charges account for around half of your overall electricity distribution charge.
- Contribution to the Norwegian Energy Fund: This charge goes to a government fund, whose purpose is to promote a transition to more environment-friendly energy production and consumption. The fund’s assets are managed by the organisation Enova. Read more about Enova.
- Government-imposed electricity consumption charge: A public charge that is collected on behalf of the Norwegian Tax Administration.
- Value Added Tax (VAT): VAT on the electricity distribution charge is levied at the rate of 25%.
-
How does Lede’s electricity distribution charge compare with other network operators?
The Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) maintains an overview of the various network operators’ electricity distribution charges at its website www.nve.no. Compared with continental Europe, Norway’s electricity distribution charge is low.
-
What is the electricity distribution charge?
You pay the electricity distribution charge to have the electricity you buy transported from the place where it is generated to your home. The charge is intended to cover the costs of building, operating and maintaining power lines, cables and transformers. A substantial proportion of the electricity distribution charge is made up of public charges (consumption charge, contribution to the energy fund and VAT).
-
Why do different electricity network companies levy different distribution charges?
The cost of owning and operating an electricity distribution network varies. Geographical and climatic conditions affect the network operators’ costs. In most cases, it costs more to distribute electricity to thinly populated rural areas than to towns and villages.
-
Why is the electricity distribution charge made up of a fixed and a variable amount?
On behalf of the Norwegian government, the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) requires that the electricity distribution charge consist of a fixed standing charge and an energy-related component.
A network operator’s costs depend not so much on the individual customer’s electricity consumption as on the overall number of customers the network supplies. The standing charge reflects these costs. The size of the standing charge varies slightly from network operator to network operator. It is also common for different customer groups to pay a different standing charge. Both the consumption charge and the contribution to the energy fund are collected via the energy-related component of the electricity distribution charge.
You pay a price per kWh of electricity you use. Someone who uses a lot of electricity uses the distribution network more and therefore pays a larger proportion of the cost of its upkeep. If you use little electricity, you pay less. The price per kWh is slightly lower in the summer than in the winter.
-
Can I switch to a new grid operator?
No. You can choose which electricity supplier you want to use, but not which network operator. You are connected to the electricity distribution network through your local network operator, who is responsible for ensuring that the electricity you have bought is transported to your home.
-
Who decides how much the electricity distribution charge will be?
On behalf of the Norwegian government, the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) determines how much electricity network operators can earn in a particular year. Since there is only one network operator in each geographic area, the NVE audits the companies’ accounts every year to make sure they are not exploiting their monopoly position. Network operators set the price that the individual customer must pay for electricity to be delivered to their homes, but the operators’ overall income must not exceed the cap that the NVE has determined for each company.