The price of electricity for households, including grid rent and taxes, but without deduction for electricity support, was on average 139,2 øre/kWh in the first quarter of 2025, according to new figures from the electricity price statistics
Out of the total price of electricity, the actual electricity price was 68,1 øre/kWh, the grid rent was 35,5 øre/kWh, and taxes were 35,6 øre/kWh. When including the deduction for electricity support, the average household price was 122,5 øre/kWh. This is 1,5 per cent lower compared to the previous quarter, and about 11 per cent lower than the first quarter last year. However, it is important to note that the price on electricity varied significantly from the norther to the southern part of Norway.
The average electricity deduction for the first quarter was 16,7 øre/kWh. This is 6,4 øre/kWh higher than in the fourth quarter last year. In 2023 and 2024 the average electricity deduction varied in the interval between 0 and 37 øre/kWh. This is modest compared to the record high levels in 2022. In the third quarter of 2022, the electricity support was as high as 176 øre/kWh on average.
The electricity support deduction was implemented in December 2021. With this support households get a part of their electricity costs reimbursed. Until September 2023 this reimbursement was based on the monthly average electricity price, but as from September 1st, 2023, it is based on the hourly electricity price.
The grid rent for households increased 8,6 per cent from the fourth quarter last year to the first quarter this year and was about 21 per cent higher than the average grid rent in the first quarter for the last five years.
Most of the larger electricity distribution companies have increased the customer grid rent during 2024. The reasons given for the increase is higher electricity costs, higher cost of capital, price increases in goods and services, higher investments and lower bottleneck revenues.
Spot price development
It was an overall increase in the electricity price for all the end user groups in the first quarter compared to the previous quarter. This can be explained by higher The spot market price is derived from the Nordic power exchange (Nord Pool AS) from the participants’ combined demand and supply for electricity the next day. The price and volume are determined for each hour of the day. The spot price can vary between the different bidding areas depending on market conditions. Norway is normally divided into five price areas (NO1-NO5). on electricity in Norway on average. However, the spot price was very different in the different Due to insufficiencies in the grid transmission capacity, it is not always possible to balance production and consumption of electricity across the entire country. Therefore, the Norwegian power system is divided into five price areas. NO1: South-Norway, NO2: Southwest-Norway, NO3: Mid-Norway, NO4: North-Norway, NO5 West-Norway in the first quarter. The monthly average spot price in NO4 (North-Norway) was around 10 øre/kWh or lower in the three months of the first quarter, which was much lower than in the south of Norway where the corresponding spot price was between 40 and 100 øre/kWh in all three months.
Resource situation in first quarter
During the first quarter the aggregate Norwegian reservoir level (nve.no) was close to the highest level measured for those weeks in the last 20 years. However, the situation varied a lot in the different price regions in Norway.
In NO4 (North-Norway) the hydrological balance was significantly higher than previously recorded in those weeks, and also in NO3 (Mid-Norway) the hydrological balance was mostly higher than the weekly historical average.
In the southern part of Norway, however, the situation was different. There the hydrological balance was well below the historical average. Partly due to lower levels of snow in the mountains than normal for that time of the year.
The electricity production in first quarter was record high. From January to March the total electricity production was 48,3 TWh, which is the highest level ever recorded in the first quarter. The net export of electricity was also high .
Higher price excluding grid rent and taxes
The average price of electricity for households, excluding taxes, grid rents and electricity support deduction was 68,1 øre/kWh in the first quarter of 2025, compared to 54,5 øre/kWh in the previous quarter. This was a 25 per cent increase in the electricity price.
For the service industry, the average price, excluding taxes and grid rent, increased by 24 percent, from 54,5 to 67,5 øre/kWh. The price was also higher for industries other than power-intensive industries. There, the price increased from 51,7 to 64,2 øre/kWh.
For power-intensive industries the average price increased by 6,3 percent compared to the last quarter. A lot of the power consumed in power-intensive industries is purchased through long-term fixed-price contracts.
Variable price contracts are still the most expensive choice
The most expensive electricity contracts for households in the first quarter were the so-called For contracts of this type the electric utility companies are under obligation to notify the consumer of any price changes at least a fortnight ahead of the actual price change. This means that the price is locked for a period of at least fourteen days.. Households with these contracts paid on average 98,9 øre per kWh, excluding taxes and grid rent, up from 89,7 øre/kWh in the last quarter. For the service industry the price went from 70,8 to 95,9 øre/kWh, and for industry other than power-intensive industry from 58 to 76,3 øre/kWh. For all categories of end-users, a variable price contract is still the most expensive alternative.
At the same time the share of electricity consumption covered by such contracts has been falling since 2021for households. In the first quarter of 2025 variable price contracts constituted about 2,1 percent of total household consumption.
Spot price and fixed price contracts
The spot market price is derived from the Nordic power exchange (Nord Pool AS) from the participants’ combined demand and supply for electricity the next day. The price and volume are determined for each hour of the day. The spot price can vary between the different bidding areas depending on market conditions. Norway is normally divided into five price areas (NO1-NO5). are by far the most common contract type for all categories of end-users, except for power-intensive industries, for which fixed price contracts are more common. For households spot price contracts covered 95,1 percent of electricity consumption and the price was on average 67,8 øre/kWh in the first quarter. This is 26 percent higher than in the previous quarter, but 13 percent lower compared to the first quarter last year.
The price for fixed price contracts for households was 54,9 øre/kWh in the first quarter. The share of electricity consumption covered by fixed price contracts has been gently declining for the last couple of years, as electricity suppliers have been more reluctant to issue new fixed price contracts because of the uncertainty regarding future electricity supplies. With figures from 2024 and the first quarter of 2025, however, it seems that the share of electricity consumption covered by such contracts has stabilized at a lower level. The share of electricity consumption covered by fixed price contracts was 2,8 per cent in the first quarter of 2025.
