– In the best case, the high-cost protection will not be needed, says Oscar Sjöstedt (SD) in connection with the press conference where the proposals, along with a number of other budget proposals, are presented.
The government is allocating one billion kronor to the high-cost protection in the budget. It will apply from November this year and throughout 2026. But it can cost much more than that in the event of electricity price shocks like those that hit Sweden at the end of 2021 and during part of 2022.
In northern Sweden, electricity areas 1 and 2, the electricity price on the electricity exchange has only been above 1.50 kr per kilowatt hour for one month (the limit when the high-cost protection should apply) since 2021. It was in December 2022.
In electricity area 3, central Sweden and parts of southern Sweden, the average price was above 1.50 in December 2021 and for four months in 2022.
In the southernmost part of Sweden, electricity area 4, the price was above 1.50 kr in December 2021 and for seven months in 2022.
The tax on electricity is reduced by almost ten öre per kilowatt hour, which corresponds to a reduction of approximately 20 percent of the tax on electricity if VAT is also included. The reduction will come into effect from the turn of the year and will cost around 6.5 billion kronor in reduced tax revenue for the state treasury per year.
We are allocating 6 billion kronor to press down Swedes' electricity bills, says Energy and Trade Minister Ebba Busch (KD) during the press conference where the measures were presented.
No details
According to Oscar Sjöstedt, only part of the cost above 1.50 kr will be covered by the protection. And it does not apply to companies.
It's not a 100 percent high-cost protection, but you get a certain compensation, he says.
The government and SD will "come back with details" about the high-cost protection, if it seems to be needed. The model to be used does not even exist yet, it will be investigated during the autumn.
Affect inflation
Oscar Sjöstedt says that the reduced electricity tax, in addition to giving households lower electricity costs, will hopefully also affect inflation.
Electricity is an input commodity in a lot of other goods and service production. If we get the price of the input commodity down, it will affect inflation indirectly in a downward direction.
