The final bill for cheap electricity is just coming to Finns

Finnish wholesale electricity, dubbed the cheapest in Europe, will not remain cheap when the network, regulation, reserve, capacity and financing costs of the system are eventually transferred to electricity users, writes Juhani Lehti.

From the reader. I met Mäkinen addressed an important issue in his Kauppalehti article: the electricity system to actual costs (KL 27.7.).

Unfortunately, the situation is even more difficult than simply paying for network investments caused by randomly fluctuating wind power and solving ever-worsening control problems.

Last winter, many companies were surprised how, despite the electricity protection that was believed to be fixed, the regional price difference and the profile cost punished customers; the latter at worst even in two directions.

The consumption profile is disappointing

Since no company knows its consumption with exact accuracy for years in advance, even large companies usually protect their electricity with a flat, flat consumption profile. During the day, consumption exceeds the protection level just when electricity is expensive, and the difference is bought on the stock exchange at a high price.

At night, on the other hand, consumption falls below the protected amount precisely when the stock market price is low. Financially, the oversecured share has to be sold back cheaply. The company therefore loses both during peak consumption and during quiet hours: the cheap electricity at night turns into an additional cost for the protected electricity.

The situation for wind power companies is even worse. Kauppalehti’s statement  mukaan 50 tuulivoimayhtiötä teki vuonna 2024 yhteensä 543,6 miljoonan euron liikevaihdolla 243,6 miljoonan euron nettotappion (KL 1.4.).

At the same time, almost EUR 210 million in feed-in tariff support was paid to wind power, which is already included in the mentioned turnover figure.

The cannibalization of wind power is merciless. When it’s windy, all power plants produce at the same time and the price of electricity collapses. In 2025, the production-weighted stock market price of wind power in Finland was only slightly more than half of the average stock market price of electricity.

The invoice will be paid

The time for free lunches is over. Until now, the bill has been paid partly from state funds and partly from the capital of investors – including our own pension companies.

Titled the cheapest in Europe, Finnish wholesale electricity will not remain cheap when the network, regulation, reserve, capacity, and financing costs of the system are eventually transferred to the electricity users.

In the near future, the actual price paid for stable and reliable electricity will double or triple the previous average price of wholesale electricity.

The ironic crown of a clean transition may still be data centers. When a power shortage threatens, they can reduce the electricity they take from the main grid by starting their diesel backup power. On the basis of the reserve power exemption, generators can be accepted under certain conditions even without any post-treatment of the exhaust gases.

In this way, our clean electricity system can be supported in a windless moment by producing fossil carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and small particles in the atmosphere – while forests are cleared to make way for wind and solar power and their huge transmission lines.