The electricity grid companies' prices are regulated by the Energy Market Inspectorate, which recently decided on new revenue frameworks for the companies during the period 2020-2023.
The new revenue frameworks, which by extension are the prices that the electricity grid companies can pick out from their customers, were reduced by SEK 50-60 billion compared to the previous period.
But the reductions could be significantly lower after the government last week agreed with the electricity grid companies that the companies will be allowed to take out "previously unused revenue space" - that is, electricity grid companies that have not used the space to raise prices before can do so in retrospect, writes Agricultural business newspaper ATL.
- It's big money we're talking about. We estimate that this is about SEK 30 to 40 billion in round numbers, says Tony Rosten, Deputy Director General at the Energy Market Inspectorate and head of the authority's network regulation department at ATL.
The background to the agreement is, among other things, to prevent electricity shortages in Skåne and the Stockholm area. Part of the agreement is that the government allows the companies to take advantage of the unused revenue space, in return for using the money for investments in the electricity grid.
- We have discussed and concluded that this is a reasonable balance. If investment increases, it will not be as much a reduction as it otherwise would have been, Energy Minister Anders Ygeman (S) told the newspaper.