“I have called a new information meeting with the finance committee on January 3,” writes committee chairman Edward Riedl (M) in a text message to TT.
Meet the Ministry
At the meeting, representatives of Energy and Industry Minister Ebba Busch’s (KD) department will inform the committee. Riedl announced before Christmas that there could already be meetings in the middle days since a majority in the committee declared themselves willing to discuss further the Social Democrats’ proposal for an emergency electricity bill.
– The Ministry of Business and Industry must come back to the committee as soon as possible and tell them how they view the proposal that the Social Democrats have made, or if there is something else that can be done, Riedl said after the finance committee’s meeting on December 21.
The Social Democrats’ economic policy spokesperson, Mikael Damberg, has welcomed the committee’s willingness to discuss the proposal further. The committee promises nothing, but in any case does not close the door, noted Damberg.
The emergency would, possibly through the state somehow stepping in with credit guarantees for the electricity companies, make it easier for electricity customers who receive extra high bills this winter to pay in installments or postpone the bills.
No money yet
The electricity subsidy that the government has promised to households in southern and central Sweden, in electricity areas 3 and 4, will not begin to be paid out until the end of February. It won’t soften the bills for December or January when those bills come rolling in.
While waiting for the electricity subsidy, other possibilities for relief can be investigated, the finance committee believes.
The day before Christmas Eve, Ebba Busch announced that the proposed and promised support for companies in electricity areas 3 and 4 must be reworked. The model that Svenska kraftnät presented almost two months ago does not meet the EU’s state aid rules, according to the government. Busch did not dare to give any forecast for when companies, organizations and associations can receive any money. In any case, it will not be at the same time as households.
“We know that households and businesses are now very hard pressed by high electricity bills as a result of the previous government’s mismanagement of the electricity system. We from the four cooperation parties are now looking at all possibilities to make it easier for households and businesses in this difficult situation,” writes Edward Riedl in his text message.