Five principles for future energy policy

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Today, access to renewable energy is a prerequisite for achieving our climate goals and creating new green growth across the country. With an active country ready to take clear steps, we must seize the great opportunities. The knowledge we have gained through hydropower and the oil industry is the best card we have on our way to a renewed future. The green transition provides new opportunities for the Norwegian and Norwegian industry.

Unacceptably high electricity prices

Today’s electricity prices do not suit people, companies or industry. They deceive people’s wallets and corporate profits. People are angry, and I understand that. We have built an entire country on the basis of abundant access to affordable electricity. In the short term, the burden of rising electricity prices has been resolved by various electricity subsidy schemes.

For the Labor Party, the answer is more power and more distribution.

Thus, the most important question for Norwegian politicians in the coming year is how we can get livable electricity prices back. But it’s also about looking for more and looking a little ahead in time. At the moment, the world around us is changing at a tremendous pace. We are in the process of rebuilding the country, building industries that will provide Norway with jobs and income for society in the future. The first task is to get livable electricity prices – and the second task is to use energy to build the country.

We produce little energy

Then we just have to start realizing: We’re producing a little bit of power. Southern Norway could run into an energy deficit by 2026. That would give us higher electricity prices and halt development.

For the Labor Party, the answer is more power and more distribution.

More energy, because it’s the most efficient thing we can do to bring down the price of electricity. More distribution, because the consequences of rising electricity prices have been unfairly and unexpectedly affected.

Five principles of energy policy

The Labor Party is a social democratic party built on the values ​​of freedom, equality and solidarity. We will have a hands-on approach to concrete tools, but with some basic principles underpinning them.

Five principles in particular should form the basis of future energy policy.

1. Prices to live with people across the country. The path to lower prices is through abundant access to affordable energy. High prices are primarily a symptom of the lack of available energy in terms of consumption. We must ensure lower prices by securing Norway’s energy surplus.
2. Shared control of energy resources. Permanent resources must be kept under public control through strong public ownership. A combination of state-owned enterprises, high taxes and the use of foreign capital and expertise lays the foundation for massive incomes for schools and health over many decades. The market should be used as a competent servant, but it cannot be the master of politics.
3. Energy policy must support Norwegian interests and democratic development in Europe. The invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing energy price war demonstrated the vulnerability of authoritarian regimes. Norway must contribute to securing the independence of democracies from authoritarian regimes, and ensuring democratic development. Without Norwegian gas, the crisis in Europe would have been much greater. Next year will be a test of whether the world’s democracies can hold together.
4. Norway should be an industrial country. Energy surpluses should ensure industrial construction across the country. This involves arranging for new energy production across the country. This also means that we must facilitate efficient and economically profitable development of the grid, so that the energy reaches where it is needed.
5. Solidarity with future generations and the intrinsic value of nature. Man-made climate change and global warming are considered the most serious threats to the foundations of life on Earth. By 2030, the world must halve greenhouse gas emissions, and measures are urgently needed to avoid global warming of more than 1.5 degrees. For the Labor Party, nature and climate must be the framework surrounding all politics. The development of renewable energy should take place in close dialogue with the local environment and be followed by good professional studies. The necessary force must always be developed in the most gentle manner on nature so that the total stress on nature does not become too great.

More power, more distribution

Despite the demanding background, we are very fortunate in Norway. Because it is also a time full of opportunities that we must dispose of in a good and future-oriented way. Going green opens up great opportunities for jobs and value creation for those on the ball.

This is where our ambitions lie. We must cut emissions, create jobs, and ensure people and businesses have access to clean, affordable renewable energy. We have great opportunities in the coming years.

Through the power politics of the Labor Party, we must create and share. We must build and organize. We must ensure that abundant access to affordable energy is a competitive advantage for the Norwegian industry, which is a good thing for Norwegian consumers. The answer is more power, more distribution.

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