Norwegian churches are asking for help due to high electricity prices: “It’s quite dramatic”

Photo: Gorm Kallestad / NTB

Churches across the country say their electricity budget has already been spent. They’re keeping some church rooms cold to save money.

“The reality is quite dramatic. The electricity budget was spent a long time ago,” assistant churchwarden Olav Fraser Lende in Oslo told the newspaper Dagen.

The Joint Church Council in Oslo is considering reducing the temperature inside the churches to 15 degrees, which is far colder than normal, the newspaper writes.

The Oslo churches are far from alone. Rjukan church closed in October to cut the electricity bill, while Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK), Budstikka, and Vårt Land report that churches in Southern Norway have spent up to NOK 400,000 more on electricity than usual in the autumn.

Electric heating

According to Dagen, about 90% of Norwegian churches have electric heating, and they have a lot of space to heat.

Churchwarden Andreas Eidsaa jr. says that the churches in Sandnes are also struggling. He hopes the Municipality will be able to contribute more money so that they do not have to lay off people or cut at the maintenance budget.

“But if we do not manage to reach an arrangement with the Municipality, we will also be forced to implement new measures,” he told Dagen.

Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews

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