There are many ways to reduce our electricity consumption. Everyone benefits - including you!

Most of us have started to get high electricity bills. Especially those who have their own contract with an electricity supplier, usually the ones owning their own home. Others, who live in rented accommodation, get electricity from the supplier with whom the landlord has a longer contract and may not yet have felt the high prices for heating.

We pay for the number of kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity we use. The price of a kWh has varied over the past year from 0 cents to 8-9 kr (+ taxes and charges) and should be compared with a maximum of 1 kr/kWh, before that. So a "normal" monthly bill for an apartment used to be a few hundred crowns and for a villa a few thousand crowns. In recent times, "a few hundred" has become more than a thousand, and the monthly bill of the homeowner has become 10-20 000 SEK higher than normal (if electricity is consumed as usual).
There are two reasons why we all need to reduce our electricity consumption:
• From the perspective of personal finance.
• From a societal perspective. Both perspectives are important for all of us!

From the perspective of personal finance, it's about your economy. Less electricity consumption means lower electricity bills. Nothing harder than that. If you have a variable electricity contract, you can save both by reducing overall consumption and by avoiding consumption when the price of electricity is high. Usually this is in the morning, when everyone is getting breakfast ready to go to work or school, and in the evening when everyone comes home to cook and watch TV.

If you have a fixed price, the same price/kWh all the time, you can only save by reducing your overall consumption. Now with the upcoming negotiations between tenants and landlords, rising electricity prices will hit tenants. Everyone will have to pay more than before.

From a societal perspective, it's about the availability of electricity. There is good access in the north of Sweden, but not enough in the south. Our electricity grids are not able to send down the electricity that is needed. And because we are part of a European electricity market that crosses national borders, we are affected by what happens in Germany in particular. In addition, politicians in the early 2000s created a national electricity system that cannot cope with the current situation. If we had not closed down our nuclear power stations - in the south of the country - we would have been able to deal with the current problems more easily. So the only thing we can do is to reduce the electricity consumption we have become accustomed to. This will be done by making electricity more expensive - if there is high consumption, for example if it is very cold and windless (no wind power), there is a risk of electricity rationing. This means that electricity companies will be forced to cut off electricity to, say, a neighbourhood for a few hours. Of course, the same district will not be affected every time and they will take into account critical activities such as health care and elderly care. The price and rationing will depend on how much we can collectively reduce consumption and on nature (the temperature outside and whether it is windy). So, even if you are a tenant, you can help keep electricity consumption down.

Finally, some savings tips, whether you have a variable electricity contract or a fixed price.
• Turn down the heat in your home and put on a sweater. Every degree matters.
• Take a shorter shower than usual. Skip showering when you can.
• If you have a freezer, prepare plenty of food late at night - freeze in portion packs.
• Are you a group that can take turns eating at each other's homes? Less electricity is required than three or four people cooking for themselves.
• Reduce lighting. Perhaps light candles, which also help to increase the heat.
• Blow drying your hair is a major electricity consumer. Are there alternatives?
• Turn off the lights in empty rooms.
• Need to get some fresh air? Ventilate quickly and close the window.

Alexander Rudenstam, Hållbarhetsinitiativet

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