Swedish households slash electricity consumption due to high cost

Stockholm, Dec 10 (IANS) Swedish households decreased their electricity consumption considerably in September, October and November, according to figures released by energy company Ellevio.

Ellevio analysed data from around 900,000 households and found that household electricity usage decreased by nearly 19.5 per cent in November, compared with the average over the previous three years.

In a statement, it also said that Swedish households on average decreased their electricity consumption by 21.5 per cent in October and 12.5 per cent in September, Xinhua news agency reported.

In some areas where the highest prices were recorded, electricity consumption decreased by nearly a quarter, the company added.

“People have probably decreased their electricity consumption as an effect of this summer’s gloomy headlines about soaring electricity prices. Customers still react to the price signals, even though not everyone is following the spot prices,” Jesper Liverod, Head of press at Ellevio, told TT news agency.

On Friday, the Swedish government also warned there was a real risk of outages due to a lack of production capacity, as half of the country’s nuclear power plants are either inoperable or operating at half capacity due to repairs.

–IANS

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