Users fuming over district heating costs

Members of Tórshavn’s district heating association are unhappy with what they describe as overpriced heating costs.

“The problem is essentially that we’re paying far too much for our district heating compared to the price of oil and renewable energy sources,” says Brian Rasmussen, chairman of the Skynsamur Fjarhiti (Reasonable District Heating) consumers’ association.

He adds that the district heating association (Fjarhitafelagið), run by Tórshavn City Council and public energy supplier SEV, is in breach of the contract terms that say district heating costs should never exceed oil prices.

District heating prices have recently seen a significant rise, with the roughly 1,200 member households in Tórshavn currently paying 17-20 percent more than those using oil and up to 50 percent more than those using renewable energy sources, according to Jan Mortensen, a member of Skynsamur Fjarhiti.

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“It’s not right to force families in the Hoyvík district to finance an expansion of the City Council’s district heating network, which has so far cost DKK 100-150 million,” says Mortensen.

“If the council wants to expand the city’s district heating network, it is only reasonable to ask all citizens to chip in, and not just the members of the district heating association.”

He adds that the key problem is that the district heating association is determining its prices using an outdated formula, which compares the costs of each energy source without taking into account factors such as the high energy efficiency of today’s oil-fired boilers.

“We are bound by the housing regulations to use district heating in our homes, so we don’t have the option of switching to other energy sources,” he says.

“So it’s only fair that our heating costs should, as a minimum, be competitive with other energy sources.”

Possible legal action

Rasmussen adds that Skynsamur Fjarhiti has had a few new board members since November’s local elections and that they should be given a while to settle in their roles.

“But if we fail to come up with a decent solution within the next few months, we will consider legal action against the district heating association.”

Hans Christian Dam, CEO of the district heating association recently told news portal in.fo that the company’s heating costs are aligned with oil prices.

He adds that some users will be refunded for parts of last year’s costs.

Read the Faroese version of this article here

Translated by prosa.fo

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