Smaller differences in electricity prices

Households that buy electricity through the most common system of variable prices, paid an average of 13.9 øre per kilowatt hour (øre/kWh) excluding taxes and grid rent in fourth quarter 1998. This is virtually unchanged from the previous quarter. The range in prices has, however, narrowed during the same period, indicating that competition in the electricity market is influencing the setting of prices.

With the exception of contracts linked to the spot price of electricity, electricity prices have sunk or remained unchanged for all of the various groups of customers from the third to the fourth quarter.

The standard deviation, a measure of distribution (measure of range) that shows a lower value as the range contracts, was reduced from 2.4 to 1.9 for households receiving power at variable prices from their local supplier. Households with one-year fixed price contracts paid an average of 15.1 øre/kW for the electricity they received in fourth quarter, a decline of 2 øre/kW since third quarter. The average price for all types of contracts for households was 14.2 øre/kWh in the fourth quarter, while it was 14.4 øre/kWh in the third quarter.

Manufacturing

Fixed price contracts make up a large part of total electricity purchases. With the exception of power-intensive industries, new electricity price contracts fell from 18.9 øre/kWh to 16.0 øre/kWh from third to fourth quarter. The standard deviation was reduced from 1.5 to 1.1. For power-intensive industries and wood processing the average price for fixed-price contracts and non-market determined prices was 14.0 øre/kWh.

New Statistics
Electricity prices, 4th quarter 1998.
The statistics are published quarterly in the Weekly Bulletin of Statistics. For more information contact: Pal.Marius.Bergh@ssb.no, tel. +47 21 09 44 20.

Weekly Bulletin issue no. 1, 1999