Elkaoset: Is someone messing with us? 

Editor's note: The following was translated into English using Google Translate.

An electricity price that is 18,000 percent higher in southern Sweden than in central Sweden. Because it's not windy in Germany.

Does that sound reasonable?

The electricity market is starting to look like a very failed joke. 

This time of year it can be nice to take a hot shower, something that in a modern country like Sweden should not have to be seen as a luxury. But Sweden is not one country but several. At least when it comes to the price of electricity. 

Those who live in Malmö or "Elområde 4" which is apparently this nation's new name, can expect to pay just over 31 kroner, including VAT, for a ten-minute shower at five o'clock today. 

A showerer in Sundsvall who turns on the faucet at the same time (located in the kingdom "Electricity area 2") receives a total cost of a little more than 17 öre, according to the forecasted hourly prices that can be found on the electricity exchange Nordpool .

That's a price difference of 184 times or 18,000 percent. 

There are various fees added to this, so it is actually even more expensive.

It is as if Malmö residents would pay 3,700 kroner for a liter of milk and Sundsvall residents 20.

Where is this even going on? 

The experts have the answer. 

"Germany is very dependent on wind power and on Wednesday there will be extremely little wind in Germany. When you don't have any cheap production, it has to be replaced and then we in Sweden are drained via the export cables," says Johan Sigvardsson, electricity price analyst at Bixia to TT. 

Yes, then, then I understand. 

Not. 

A major problem with the market for the vital raw material electricity in Sweden is that it is so narrow that those who really master it in depth are likely to fit in a larger conference room. 

This with incredible price differences between different parts of the country is nothing new, it is a phenomenon that has arisen time and again in recent years, and was most noticed two years ago when the prices were also at their highest. 

That this is something that the Swedes have had to learn to live with is shown by the abundant flora of advice and tips that can be found on the Internet to optimize their electricity use at all hours of the day. 

It's apparently not unusual for people to Google the price tag before turning on the shower. Something of a proof of poverty one might think for one of the world's richest countries and which last year actually produced more electricity than we disposed of. 

The difference was quite large, a whopping 28 terawatt hours, according to the Energy Agency .

That's the equivalent of 5.6 billion ten-minute showers, for those wondering. 

But of course, if the wind is bad in Germany, do it, it's apparently just a matter of hacking. 

Then, a couple of years ago, we were told that this madness was due to poor transmission capacity in the power grids between northern and southern Sweden. 

Recently, state-owned Svenska Kraftnät introduced a new model called "Flowbased" which would use the grids more efficiently. The model has been added following an EU regulation. 

Several experts were critical in advance and warned of increased prices.

A review after the first month of the new system by the electricity market analyst Bengt Ekenstierna showed that things have instead gotten worse, with even greater price differences and increased discrimination against those who live in Electricity Area 4. 

“The problem is that we have a pricing philosophy that is completely illogical. This is not new, but what happens with Flowbased is that we get an even stronger connection to Germany in that the model allows us to make more capacity available for exporting," says Bengt Ekenstierna to the newspaper Näringslivet, published by Svenskt Business life. 

Bengt Ekenstierna, a veteran in the industry, has long called the Swedish electricity market dysfunctional. He has tried to form opinions for changes, including through a newsletter called "Folkbildningsinlägg". The latest, number 211 in the order, has the title: "Abandonment". 

He believes that Swedish politicians seem to have completely abandoned all thoughts of being able to influence the other countries in the EU when it comes to the electricity market. Completely wrong, says Bengt Ekenstierna.

"It is the duty of every politician to hit the table and work to change when applied EU regulations lead to such effects as it has had on the electricity market in Sweden in the last 3 years. Electricity customers have been overcharged by more than SEK 300 billion via their electricity bills. And then I haven't included the 100 billion overcharges that happen via rampant and uncontrolled electricity grid charges from a stray electricity grid monopoly," he thunders in his letter. 

300 billion???

I think I'll take a long expensive shower and try to forget I even read that.

There must be someone driving us.