Response to interpellation 2025/26:144 on wind power funds to the municipalities
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns payments to municipalities for wind power. KD argues that all municipalities with wind power should receive compensation for both existing and new wind power during 2025 and coming years 1. KD emphasizes that the government has laid the foundation for a broader wind power package with local funds and revenue sharing 2. KD believes that they are rewarding municipalities that have taken responsibility and creating incentives for land-based wind power 3. KD claims that the electricity price has gone down and that Sweden has one of the EU's lowest electricity prices 3. S argues that the municipalities have waited 442 days for money and that the lack of predictability creates economic risks 4 5. S believes that small municipalities in the inland of Norrland have been affected unreasonably much 6 7. S argues that the money should be paid out now because municipalities have taken responsibility for the energy supply 8. S argues that the lack of compliance with timelines damages trust for new wind power 8. KD acknowledges that the government deserves criticism because no exact date for payment or clear basis for calculation has been specified 9.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
Madam Speaker! Welcome to those sitting in the gallery or watching on television this morning. We have an interpellation race with five interpellations to be answered in four rounds. We are now on number two.
It is Malin Larsson who has asked me when the already promised wind power funds will be paid out to the municipalities.
All municipalities that have wind power will receive a share of the compensation decided by the Riksdag in the budget bill for 2025 (prop. 2024/25:1), that is this year, and which for this year amounts to 340 million kronor. The Government's intention with the compensation is that it shall be long-term and paid out even during coming years. The Government Offices are preparing a regulation with the payment model needed to distribute this year's and next year's funds to the municipalities. The 2025 compensation will be paid out to the municipalities either this year or during next year. The compensation to the municipalities will apply to both existing and new wind power and be based on in which municipality the wind turbines are located.
The Government intends to return to the issue in the near future. The authority that is to make the payments will then distribute the 2025 compensation to the affected municipalities.
Malin Larsson (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer.
When we debate energy issues and wind power in the chamber, I usually highlight my home region, Västernorrland. Here in Västernorrland, we have long taken great responsibility for Sweden's energy supply. We have wind power and a lot of hydropower. We can and we want to have electricity-intensive establishments here that provide jobs and growth. All of this is based on the municipalities saying yes when Sweden needs electricity.
That is why it is also important that municipalities with wind power receive financial compensation. In the government's budget for 2025, Ånge would receive 15.7 million, Sollefteå 14.5 and Ö-vik 14.1. In total, it would be 62 ½ million kronor to Västernorrland.
Madam Speaker! Västernorrland is one of Sweden's absolute largest wind power counties, along with Norrbotten and Jämtland. We bear a large part of the electricity production that all of Sweden is dependent on. Still, our municipalities are still without their promised wind power money. Today, 442 days later, our municipalities are still waiting, and now only 26 days of the year remain.
This is serious enough, but this spring, in the previous interpellation debate that I and the minister had, the minister gave very clear statements in the chamber: The funds that are allocated for 2025 will be paid out during 2025. The money shall not burn inside, and the grounds in the model are clear. These are words that are in the minutes.
But now in December 2025, there is still no ordinance, no decisions, and no money on its way to the municipalities. Then the question must be asked: What is a promise from the government worth for the municipalities that have taken responsibility for Sweden's electricity production?
442 days have now passed since the government presented its proposal regarding wind power payments to the municipalities. It is a compensation that was intended to provide local benefit and strengthen the acceptance of wind power. But here we stand, more than a year later, with about three weeks left of the year, and not a single krona has been paid out. The municipalities still do not know if the money will come at all, what amount applies, or when it will be paid out. These are fundamental questions that the government has not answered, and at the same time, Sweden needs more electricity production.
Industry is being electrified, and companies are demanding a stable supply of renewable electricity. Our competitiveness moving forward is entirely dependent on our ability to expand electricity production quickly. In this situation, 90 percent of new wind power projects are currently being stopped, and the municipalities themselves say that the uncertainty regarding compensation plays a major role. This is therefore not just a question of municipal budgets, but this is a question of Sweden's growth, jobs, and future industrial development.
Madam Speaker! Our municipalities deserve better. They deserve predictability, they deserve respect for their accountability, and they also deserve for the state to keep its promises.
Madam Speaker! I would therefore like to repeat my question: When – exactly when – will the promised wind power funds be paid out?
Isak From (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank Malin Larsson for an important interpellation.
On this question, the Minister for Energy and Industry actually has a little to deliver. It is exactly as Malin Larsson says, namely that it was at the 2024 presentation of the budget for 2025 that the government said that municipalities would receive wind power money, based on the investigation *Värdet av vinden*. The exact distribution is not clear, just as the Minister says, and that is part of why it has been difficult. Another part of why it has been difficult is that we know that the government base sees wind power differently. Sverigedemokraterna are openly critical of all forms of wind power.
What I want to bring up, and what I raised in a written question to the Minister in October, is that there are four municipalities in Västerbotten, Malå, Sorsele, Storuman and Åsele, which, from a percentage point of view, calculated on the population, have a high proportion of wind power. These are municipalities that have been affected unreasonably much by the government's policy, which means that they have not had or do have the conditions they should have had. It is not reasonable.
A promise of approximately 8 million, which for Åsele – for Malå it amounts to between 3 and 4, and it also does for Storuman and Sorsele – is important for a small municipality. Again, I tell the Minister that many are waiting for the payment. Many are waiting and wondering what the promise is worth.
Malin Larsson also highlighted the issue of new projects. Will there be any new projects? That involves several parts. The economic calculations for the wind power must be calculated, there must be an industry that demands the electricity, and something must come to the local population. Those who have granted their land need to feel that something is coming back.
Right now, Madam Speaker, several of the small municipalities that for many years have contributed to Sweden's supply feel discouraged and deceived. The Minister for Finance and the Deputy Prime Minister must ensure that they deliver.
Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
Madam Speaker! I would like to send some kind of distress signal to my colleagues that I will need more coffee if I am to receive this much scolding during the morning, with some justification, or alternatively a gnome. That might also help.
Now I am going to become serious and turn to Malin Larsson. I understand the criticism and think that the government deserves some of it. It is perhaps a bit rhetorically generous to speak of 442 days. The budget did not actually start then, but it started to apply on January 1. That said, everyone who knows the calendar year – even my own small children can now – knows that quite a long time has passed since January, and it is almost Christmas Eve.
Those of you who have met me in debates before know that I find it difficult to give political non-answers and simply repeat the same talking point. I would like you, dear members, to feel that you are getting an answer.
There is pressure on when. I cannot say, because there is no date yet. But what I can say and what I think is important to convey to municipal politicians in Ånge, Sollefteå, Ö-vik and Sorsele, all those who have taken responsibility for these issues, is that the money will come. And the money will not burn up inside, just as I said when I took this discussion earlier this year.
What is the closest I can give as an insight and explanation? To begin with, I want to give myself a bit of a pat on the back and say that this government, unlike previous governments, has managed to start laying the foundation for a broader wind power package. It is about municipal compensation, which we are discussing here, compensation models for neighbors, regional funds, and revenue sharing. All of this is intended to increase the incentives to say yes, but also to thank those who, as Malin Larsson rightly points out, have taken responsibility in these issues.
There has, however, been a desire from the government to do several parts simultaneously. That is why I do not know if it is I who deserves the scolding, but now I stand here and take it and try to explain as well as I can.
I myself would have been concerned about this as a municipal politician. I stake my name on the fact that these funds will not be wasted. They will be paid out. But I understand that one is now a bit nervous if one is responsible for a municipality's funds; in some cases, one also has small margins. One wonders how it will turn out when they have not been paid out yet and there are so few days left in the year.
I hope that it is appreciated somewhere that I try to be as transparent as possible, which is, of course, my task in this chamber.
Malin Larsson (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answers the Minister can provide! However, we still lack what the municipalities need most: a date. When will the money actually arrive? It has actually been 442 days since the government beat the big drum, called a press conference, and promised the wind power money.
Madam Speaker! When the municipalities planned the budget for 2025 and factored in the wind power revenues, it was not just a figure in a document. It affects whether one can turn on the street lighting in the countryside. It affects whether one can renovate a school or make a necessary investment in elderly care. When the revenue becomes uncertain, planning becomes difficult or completely impossible for the municipalities. Procurement risks being interrupted, projects are paused, and lead times become more expensive. Ultimately, the municipal residents get less for their money than planned.
Municipal budget planning is a long process based on predictability. When the government promises money already in the budget bill but then delays for more than an entire year, if they even execute it, it creates stretched and tangible economic risks for the municipalities. If the municipalities do not receive the money until 2026, they also lose their purpose. Then they become just a line item, not a tool for development. This is a waste of both time, money, and manpower.
Madam Speaker! It does not stop there. The uncertain handling also strikes directly at trust. When the municipalities cannot give clear information to residents and local companies, the legitimacy of the entire system of local benefit is eroded, the system that is necessary to increase the acceptance of wind power.
This is not worthy of a government, if one wants to safeguard local influence and local benefit. It is also directly harmful in a time when we in Sweden need more renewable electricity to meet the climate transition and strengthen our industry's competitiveness.
The government has also presented a new memorandum on revenue sharing. But in the referral responses that have now arrived regarding it, there is very clear criticism from both municipalities and county administrative boards. The criticism is both collective and sharp in its parts. The proposal does not, in fact, resolve the municipal veto and does not shorten the long, complex permit processes with many appeals. It also does not create the predictability that is needed. The municipalities say the same: They need clarity, stable revenues, and a government that keeps its promises.
I also want to highlight what Isak From previously raised in his speech: We who live in the countryside and who take responsibility for the entire country's energy supply must get something back.
Furthermore, it becomes difficult to take new compensation systems seriously when the government does not even deliver the money that should have been paid out during 2025.
How can the municipalities in Västernorrland and the rest of the country trust new proposals when the old promises are still unfulfilled?
Isak From (S)
Madam Speaker! It is about justice. Many of the small municipalities in the inland of Norrland and in all of Sweden deserve better. They deserve to have their reality lifted up.
What has happened during this mandate period is that the government has removed the so-called Bucht funds, which we had agreed upon politically. They were based on the Rural Committee's proposal, and it concerns relatively little money, 1.7 million for each municipality in business funds. The government also removed money for the Sami administrative municipalities. Most often, it is the same municipalities. These small municipalities, such as Åsele, Malå, and Storuman, have stepped up and contributed in area after area. It is not more than reasonable that they get something back.
In this matter, there are still many out there who are waiting. Now, the Minister has been very clear in her promise. She has put her name on the line, and she usually tries to keep what she promises. It may be that these funds are coming, so that one can plan for them. But when one does not know what the calculation model looks like, it is not very easy to calculate how much money it will be and what to do with it. It is also something that should be able to continue forward.
Questions remain, and we will follow up if a payment is not made.
Madam Speaker! I would like to wish the Speaker and also the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister for Enterprise a Merry Christmas.
Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
Madam Speaker! I thank you very much.
One can also see it this way: 442 days is many days, but 442 days is significantly fewer than 2,920 days, which the red-green government came up with when they were in power for eight years but did not deliver a similar solution.
With that said: I have not intended to pretend as if we do not deserve criticism here. I think we do. You may receive a different point of view from another cabinet colleague in the government. But I have not intended to pretend as if I think it is good that we now in the month of December still have not clearly stated exactly what the basis for calculation will be, so that one can at least count on it – nor have given an exact date for payment or ensured that the money is already out. What I want to give in response is that there are several solutions that have the advantage of being connected and will work together.
I want to ask the members for something important, especially Malin Larsson before her final remarks. I understand that this has already created uncertainty. I will not pretend otherwise. But I want to ask for help not to create further uncertainty. I am ready to take the criticism and the views and to hear about the consequences of it having taken so long. But not uncertainty about whether they will come, because they will come. Åsele, Malå, Storuman and many more – I only mentioned Isak From's example – will get to receive these funds, and that is important.
Malin Larsson (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the clear statement. Although the Minister promised at the beginning of 2025 that the money would arrive this year, I take the Minister at her word when she says that the money will come. It is a statement that the municipalities have been waiting for for over a year. But one would also like to know when they will arrive. I can also say that it was the previous government that commissioned the investigation and started this important work.
Madam Speaker! Municipalities that have wind power have taken responsibility for the entire country's energy supply. They have granted land and managed the impact on infrastructure and community services. They have done this with the argument that the state promised compensation. For every month that passes without payment, the consequences become clearer. In the long run, it will become even harder to get municipalities to say yes to new wind power. Therefore, it is incredibly important that these funds are now also paid out.
We need more electricity production. We need more wind power. If we get less new electricity production, it threatens growth, jobs, and the development of industry. Sweden needs a government that keeps its promises. The municipalities need answers now. When the government does not keep its own schedules, it becomes difficult to build the trust needed for new wind power, and it is the municipalities that have to handle the consequences.
Madam Speaker! Sweden needs more electricity and more renewable production. But then we also need a government that keeps its promises and delivers to the municipalities.
Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
Madam Speaker! I thank Malin Larsson for another important interpellation debate in this chamber.
I completely share the view on the need for us to have better governance of the Swedish energy system. An important component in that is that we reward municipalities that have been involved in taking responsibility, but also create incentives for more municipalities to want to be that in terms of, for example, the establishment of land-based wind power.
Until now, we have implemented a series of measures. The power boost has been significantly strengthened, and now a total of an additional 2 billion is being added to secure power where it is needed. We have carried out pilot projects with gas turbines to release more power for industries. Öresundsverket has been restarted. We can summarize it as over 60 measures aimed at improving the energy situation in Sweden in the short and medium term – up to 2030. At the turn of the year, we are also lowering the electricity tax by 20 percent.
We have seen effects on the price. Every year since I became Minister for Energy, the price of electricity in Sweden has gone down. Now, the price during the winter has been halved, in some parts of Sweden more than halved. In all of Sweden, the total cost for electricity has gone down. We also have one of the EU's lowest electricity prices, and it will get even better. This applies to both the price level of the total as well as smoothness and stability. We have succeeded in adding 2,000 megawatts more power to the system during these years. These are important deliveries, but we are not satisfied.
Regarding Malin Larsson's question about the wind power money, I hope it has nevertheless become clear. We will deliver, but I am not entirely satisfied with how we have delivered so far. With that, I would like to thank you for the interpellation and wish you a Merry Christmas.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.