May is almost over and now it is possible to sum up the average electricity price for the month, which for the vast majority is the most relevant figure for those with a variable electricity price agreement.
In electricity price area 4, southern Götaland, the average price on the electricity exchange Nord Pool landed at around 73 öre per kilowatt hour (kWh). You can go back to May 2021 to find a lower price. It looks roughly the same in electricity area 3, northern Götaland and Svealand, but where the average price in May 2023 was around 40 öre/kWh.
Norrland, electricity area 1 and 2, which ends the last day of the month with a negative price of 1 öre (the third day in May with negative prices), lands on an average May price of 28 öre. But if only the second half of May had been included, the average price would have rather landed at just a few öre as a result of the spring river at full speed.
Negative prices only appear on the electricity exchange. For households, this has no practical meaning when the electricity company’s mark-up, electricity tax and VAT plus electricity grid fee are added to the bill, in the order of over a krone per kWh.