The law comes into effect in just one week, on February 1. It is the same month that the electricity subsidy will begin to be paid out to households in southern Sweden.
The data on the electricity subsidy, i.e. how large a person’s electricity consumption has been and how much money each electricity user receives, will be covered with strict confidentiality for 20 years.
The Legislative Council, which examines the government’s bill, had strong objections to the introduction and emphasized that the principle of openness is one of the cornerstones of Swedish democracy.
The government, for its part, has justified the secrecy with the fact that households cannot renounce the electricity subsidy and that there is a protective interest in personal relationships related to finances.