Background information

The energy crisis and increase in electricity costs caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine has resulted in several electricity support measures introduced by the Swedish government. Some of the actors that have been hit by soaring costs are businesses and organisations.

The regulation on electricity support for companies (förordning om elstöd till företag) [2023:233] entered into force on 9 May 2023 and gives companies and organisations the right to subsidies for parts of their electricity bills.

The European Commission approved the scheme regulating the electricity support for companies in the beginning of May 2023.

Content of measure

The subsidies are available to companies and organisations, such as limited liability companies, trading companies, associations, housing associations, foundations, and registered faith communities (trossamfund), in the two southernmost bidding areas (elområden) three and four. Municipalities and regions in these two areas are also covered by the regulation.

The subsidy is based on the electricity consumed between 1 October 2021 and 30 September 2022. A group will be able to receive a maximum of SEK 20 million (€1.7 million) in support - a maximum amount that follows EU's rules on state aid. A company eligible for electricity support through this measure cannot at the same time be eligible for subsidies through the regulation on SE-2023-5/2818 (förordningen om elstöd till konsumenter) [2022:1872].

The measure is financed via the so-called bottleneck revenues (flaskhalsintäkter) and administered by the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket).

Use of measure

A few days after the application process opened, over 17,000 companies had applied for electricity support. The Tax Agency (Skatteverket) had paid out SEK 1.9 billion (€163 million] in support by 2 June 2023.

According to the state-owned energy authority Svenska kraftnät's calculations, a total of around SEK 29 billion (€2.5 billion) in subsidies could be paid out.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Applies to all businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government	National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	No involvement	Consulted
Form	Not applicable	Direct consultation outside a formal body

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Unknown
• Main level of involvement: Peak or cross-sectoral level

Involvement

Social partners were involved during the consultation process, during which the government requested responses from several industry partners, such as Swedenergy (Energiföretagen Sverige), the Swedish Federation of Business Owners (Företagarna), Swedish Trade Federation (Svensk Handel), the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise (Svenskt Näringsliv), and Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (Sveriges Kommuner och Regioner).

Views and reactions

In its consultation response, the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise (Svenskt Näringsliv) was in general positive towards the introduction of the measure. The employer representative, however, expressed concerns regarding the risks of competition distortion between companies, partly due to the maximum amount of subsidies set for groups. It also criticised the overall distribution of the electricity support between businesses and households.

Sources

• 20 February 2023: Referral of a proposal for a regulation on electricity subsidies for companies (Remiss av förslag till förordning om elstöd till företag) (www.regeringen.se)
• 20 February 2023: The government presents new details about the electricity support for companies (Regeringen presenterar nya detaljer om elstödet till företag) (www.regeringen.se)
• 06 March 2023: Consultation response by the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise (Remiss av förslaget till förordning om elstöd till företag ) (www.svensktnaringsliv.se)
• 08 May 2023: Regulation [2023:233] on electricity support for companies (Förordning om elstöd till företag) (www.riksdagen.se)
• 02 June 2023: Sveriges Radio, P4 Skaraborg (2023) "17 000 företag har redan sökt elstöd – nästan två miljarder utbetalt" (sverigesradio.se)