Electricity prices may have consequences for Växjö Lakers
Electricity costs at Växjö Laker in August were eight times higher than budgeted and, in the worst case, could rise to three million kronor per month in the future.
Then the club risks having to close the ice rinks and head to the municipality:
We have an extreme position, CEO Johan Markusson writes in an email.
Sportbladet has previously written about the maximum electricity prices that affect, among other things, the Växjö Lakers.
Smålandposten (SMP) now reports that the situation is worse than feared – on the verge of an emergency. Electricity costs at the SHL club in August were eight times higher than budgeted.
Växjö Lakers is responsible for operations at the Vida Arena and consumes a total of 4.5 million kWh per year. In a normal year, the club allocates electricity costs 4.5 million SEK.
In this year’s budget, this figure was increased to six million, something that SMP wrote about earlier.
Växjö Lakers has a three-year contract with its electricity supplier in which the bulk is repaired at low cost at today’s prices, while the smaller part is variable.
But even a “good” deal doesn’t help.
It can hit hard against youth sports
Now the club has turned to the municipality to solve the acute crisis:
We have indications that the situation will be much worse in the coming months. This means that we will spend three million kronor per month on electricity (the whole year offer is six million kroner). If that happens, we won’t be able to run the ice rink and the old arena.” Johan Marcusson writes and asks for a meeting to resolve the acute crisis, Johan Marcusson writes in an email to the Department of Culture and Leisure, about which the SMP was the first to speak.
When Sportbladet arrives at Markusson, he wants to highlight the photo:
We face a tough financial challenge when it comes to electricity costs. At the moment, we are working with many different scenarios and solutions to be able to lower costs. From the worst to the best. In this work, many of us from electric companies, network companies and municipality are involved.
– In the coming weeks we will get a better picture of what we can expect.
Växjö Lakers has two ice surfaces as well as the Vida Arena. The old arena and ice rink are used by most youth and junior teams. School sports, snowboarding and skating in public areas also take place there.
