HS Turku | Juha Koskinen’s letterbox slammed into silence. Interesting letter: The price of electricity will rise more than the man’s pension is

When at the end of September Juha Koskinen a letter from Nivos Energia came knocking out of the mailbox, the content was not a surprise, but it made me quiet.

The letter presented changes to the price of Koskinen’s indefinite electricity contract from the beginning of November. The price of general electricity jumps to 49.98 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh). Currently, the price is 23 cents. Just a week ago, the price was 3.9 cents.

“The feeling was between despair and great despair”, Koskinen describes his feeling when he saw the increase in black and white.

“The price increase alone is more than my pension on an annual basis.”

HS has seen a picture of the letter.

Koskinen lives with his wife in a new 110 square meter detached house in Liedo. In addition, they have a cottage in Lapland.

About 26,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity were consumed each year. With the new prices, according to Koskinen, the bill would be around 12,000 euros higher. Koskinen is now trying to prevent this by saving what he can.

The detached house has a spare fireplace and an air heat pump. The couple has also prepared for the future increase in electricity prices by purchasing clappers. They bought some from their regular supplier and some they dumped from their yard.

Already in the spring, the couple installed solar panels on the roof of the building.

“At their best, they have produced 40 kWh per day. They would produce more if we didn’t live on a shady forest plot.”

Although the panels currently produce about half of the home’s electricity, the yield decreases as the days get shorter. In November, the return is already at zero, says Koskinen.

“When it gets cold at the same time, electricity consumption doubles. There are four dark months ahead and we know how high the price of electricity will rise from the current prices.”

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“There are four dark months ahead and we know how high the price of electricity will rise from the current prices.”

I will according to the government decision to reduce the value added tax on the energy fee for electricity to ten percent for December–April is simply not enough.

In addition, he regrets the fact that the government’s subsidies bring help in paying the electricity bills only with a delay.

You can get the benefit already during the tax year, for example by ordering a new tax card, which takes into account the household deduction based on the electricity bill of the beginning of the year.

“The decision-makers should get down to the grassroots level and see what the beginning of winter looks like for many people.”

Read more: The government aligned its support for paying electricity bills – use the calculator to estimate whether you would get a tax deduction for electricity

In addition, Koskinen points out that government support is only available for permanent residence. You can’t keep a cabin cold either, says Koskinen.

“12 degrees is the lower limit. If you lower the temperature below that, damage to the structures will begin to occur.”

Koskinen however, he says that he is even prepared to take out a loan.

“With a very high probability, you will have to go to the bank to ask for a loan for electricity bills. And I myself have a good situation in that the collateral is in order. There are certainly some who don’t have collateral and have to rely on quick tips.”

Before that, however, he tries to reduce his electricity bill by all possible means. The goal is to reduce electricity consumption by half in the coming winter.

“We lower the room temperature to, say, 12 degrees, heat the fireplace and put the mattresses in front of it,” he jokes.

He plans to reduce the costs of the Lapland cottage by switching to stock electricity and night heating.

On Friday Koskinen was on his way to spend his autumn vacation at a cabin. He plans to change the batteries in the cottage to remote-controlled wifi batteries.

However, you have to turn the batteries on and off yourself, because you don’t need to install a fully automatic system.

“As a pensioner, I can turn into a nocturnal person, do laundry and charge a hybrid car at night, but not everyone can do that. After all, this is an absolutely absurd situation.”

Correction 5.10. at 10:30 a.m.: Corrected the point in the article where the interviewee says that the government’s subsidies will only bring benefits in next year’s final taxation. However, you can get the benefit earlier, for example if you declare deductions during the tax year and order a new tax card.