On Thursday, the government announced that Svenska kraftnät's Director General Per Eckemark will leave, after just seven months as head of the operation.
No concrete reason has been given externally, but SVT has seen emails that Ebba Busch's state secretary sent to Eckemark during the autumn, expressing dissatisfaction that Svenska kraftnät has not succeeded with the power reserve.
“Government responsibility”
Earlier this fall, Svenska kraftnät announced that the procurement of an electricity reserve for the winter had failed. No company wanted to take on the assignment at the price that Svenska kraftnät had set as a ceiling, according to a regulatory framework set by the EU.
The Social Democrats claim that it is the government, not Svenska kraftnät and the Director General, who is responsible for the failure.
According to Fredrik Olovsson, energy policy spokesperson for S, the government had been warned by Svenska kraftnät in good time.
If you as an authority warn the government before the summer that there could be problems with the power reserve if you continue as planned, then the government must intervene, he says and continues:
They haven't done that. Instead, they've fired the director general, there may be reasons for that that I don't know, but there is political responsibility for not acting.
“Political responsibility”
He says that Ebba Busch should therefore not have looked surprised when she learned that things were "going awry".
She had information about that even before the summer. Political responsibility needs to be demanded for that, says Olovsson.
Svenska kraftnät is now conducting a new procurement of reserve power, with a deadline of December 10.
TT has contacted Ebba Busch.
