Your electricity costs consist of fixed charges, but also of fees calculated based on your consumption. The unit used to measure consumption is kilowatt-hour (kWh). Your electricity bills show how many kilowatt-hours you have consumed during the period, and the variable items on the invoice are then calculated based on this consumption.
Your electricity is divided into two areas – the electrical grid and electricity trading.
You can choose which company you want to contract for electricity trading, but there is always a company responsible for the local electrical grid. If you choose to sign an electricity trading contract with the same company that manages the grid, you often get everything on one invoice. If you choose to sign an electricity trading contract with a different company, you will naturally receive a bill from each company.
The grid cost finances the maintenance of the electrical grid itself. Therefore, this electricity bill is paid to the company responsible for the local electrical grid.
The grid cost is divided into two parts – subscription cost and transmission cost.
The subscription cost is a fixed fee for your electricity subscription, which depends on factors such as the main fuse you have. The transmission cost is variable and depends on your actual consumption – how much electricity is transmitted through the grid (however, you pay for the electricity itself on the electricity trading invoice).
The electricity grid fee also includes three fees that finance the state's control over the electricity grid:
Network Monitoring Fee – goes towards the work of the Energy Market Inspectorate. They ensure that energy companies in Sweden comply with applicable laws and regulations.
Electricity Preparedness Fee – goes to the Swedish National Grid's work. They manage the main grid and are responsible for ensuring that the electricity system is reliable and balanced.
Electrical Safety Fee – goes to the Electrical Safety Authority's work. Among other things, they aim to prevent people and property from being harmed by electricity.
The cost of electricity trading is mainly divided into three parts: electricity price, energy tax, and VAT. All of these are influenced by how much electricity you consume. The electricity price is the amount you pay for the electricity itself. Added to this is the energy tax, which is a specific tax on energy, and VAT, which is a general tax paid when purchasing something. Depending on your agreement, you might also pay an annual fixed fee to the electricity trading company.
The electricity trading company also invoices an electricity certificate fee, used to increase the amount of renewable energy. This fee is often included in the electricity price, but in some cases, it may be listed separately on the invoice. The fee is a specific amount per kilowatt-hour and is therefore driven by consumption.
We have no fixed term on our electricity contract. We strive to help our customers reduce their total electricity consumption and the average electricity price instead, which has a much greater effect on the cost of electricity, especially since it also affects the grid cost.
Below, we walk you through how to interpret your invoice and the different specifications for the reported electricity cost. This information will also be available on your invoice.
Electricity Cost
A detailed explanation of all the line items on the invoice follows below.
The spot price is the market price of electricity from the electricity exchange Nord Pool. The spot price varies every hour, and the spot prices for the current day are determined the day before. A month has 720 hours, each with its unique spot price, which on the invoice is displayed as your average price for the month.
Electricity certificates are priced according to the basic principle of supply and demand. The electricity certificate system was introduced on May 1, 2003, with the aim of increasing electricity production from renewable energy sources in Sweden.
Origin guarantees. For every kWh produced in Sweden, origin guarantees are created. These are then sold on an open market (there are also bilateral agreements). The demand for origin guarantees determines the price. Renewable energy sources have higher demand, which means the prices for these origin guarantees are higher. As an electricity supplier, we match the consumption from Greenely's customers and then buy an equivalent amount of origin guarantees.
The electricity you consume, which comes out of your socket, may come from different energy sources, but what we at Greenely do by purchasing origin guarantees is to ensure that you only pay for fossil-free energy.
Balance fees (Balance Responsibility, Imbalance Costs, Swedish Power Grid, eSett & Nord Pool) Balance Responsibility is a fee we pay to our responsible balance provider to ensure that all Greenely's customers have electricity available around the clock. Imbalance costs arise from the difference between our electricity forecasts and the actual electricity consumption of customers, which includes fees from the Swedish Power Grid and eSett. Finally, there is also a fee to Nord Pool for buying and selling electricity.
Overhead for the purchase of electricity are administrative fees directly related to the purchase, operation, and management of the electricity business, including system costs.