Electricity price today: what a kWh really costs you in Sweden

Four bidding zones, four prices before tax

Sweden has been split into four bidding zones (elområden) since 2011, numbered from north to south. Within a zone the spot price is the same everywhere for a given quarter hour; between zones it differs whenever the lines southwards are full. The table shows what households in flats were actually billed in August 2026 according to Statistics Sweden (SCB), mark-up included, and what that becomes with energy tax and VAT but before the grid fee.

The north–south gap is widest in winter. The highest month in the SE4 series was August 2022, at 416.1 öre/kWh including VAT for a house without electric heating. Across 2025 the variable average was 48.6 öre/kWh in SE1 and 111.2 öre/kWh in SE4, both with VAT. See the pages on SE1, SE2, SE3 and SE4, and why the borders sit where they do in the guide to bidding zones.

How the all-in price is built

The calculator does what your two monthly bills do, one from the retailer (elhandelsbolag) and one from the grid company (elnätsföretag), and adds them up per kilowatt-hour.

1. Spot price, öre per kWh before VAT. On a quarter-hour contract you pay each quarter’s price; on a variable monthly price you pay an average weighted by how everyone in the zone uses power.
2. Mark-up, the retailer’s margin per kWh, often a few öre and stated in your contract. The retailer’s monthly fee is separate; Energimarknadsbyrån puts it at 100 to 500 kronor a year in most cases.
3. Transfer fee, the grid company’s price per kWh. It is set by your local grid, and you cannot switch grid company. We use the Energy Markets Inspectorate’s (Ei) compilation on 1 January 2026, with the same standard cases as the regulator.
4. Energy tax, 36.0 öre/kWh before VAT under the Energy Tax Act, down from 43.9 öre/kWh in 2025, collected by the grid company.
5. VAT (moms), 25% on the sum of all the above, the tax included.

Add the grid’s fixed fee, which depends on your main fuse, and the state authority charges of SEK 140 a year before VAT. The calculator includes them and shows the monthly cost for the consumption you enter.

Two worked examples at this year’s tax rates

A flat in Stockholm on Ellevio’s grid, 2,000 kWh a year: the SCB variable-contract average for SE3 in August 2026 was 98.7 öre/kWh before VAT. Ellevio’s transfer fee for the standard case is 20.8 öre/kWh and energy tax 36.0 öre/kWh. With VAT that makes 194.4 öre/kWh. The fixed grid fee of SEK 1,484 a year with VAT pushes the average per kWh to 268.6 öre/kWh: in a small home the fixed part weighs heavily.

An electrically heated house in Malmö on E.ON’s grid, 20 A and 20,000 kWh a year: variable price in SE4 for a heated house 95.1 öre/kWh, transfer fee 24.6 öre/kWh on average for the case, plus tax and VAT gives 194.6 öre/kWh. With fixed fees the monthly bill is about SEK 4,027. Here spot price and tax dominate, not the subscription.

Why your grid area changes everything

Two neighbouring towns can share a spot price and still pay different all-in prices, because they sit in different grid companies’ areas. The Energy Markets Inspectorate lists 115 grid areas with a price for an electrically heated 20 A house. The cheapest costs SEK 7,289 a year with VAT and the most expensive SEK 21,517, against a median of SEK 11,670. That gap is bigger than what most people save by switching retailer, and none of the big price sites include it, because they only show the exchange price. Compare your grid area or read about Ellevio, Vattenfall Eldistribution and E.ON.

Paste today’s prices and find the cheapest time

Below the spot-price field is a box where you paste today’s or tomorrow’s quarter-hour prices, one per line, in öre, kronor or euros per megawatt-hour. The calculator turns each quarter into an all-in price with your grid fee and tax, draws the day, shows the lowest and highest price and where the cheapest continuous window starts for the length you choose. Lowest and highest come from the same list, so they cannot end up the wrong way round. The same feature exists for the washing machine, the tumble dryer, the dishwasher and for charging an electric car, where charging time is derived from the battery and the wallbox power.

A quarter-hour price only matters if your contract follows it. On a variable monthly price you pay the month’s average whenever you run the machine, so shifting use does not show on the bill, even if it helps the power system. The guide to quarter-hour prices explains the difference, and fixed or variable shows what each contract type cost over the last twelve months according to Statistics Sweden.

What we do not calculate

Power charges (effektavgift), where the grid company bills your highest hourly load of the month, are included only if they appear in the regulator’s standard case; the rule forcing every grid company to introduce them was repealed in June 2026, but several keep them. You add the retailer’s monthly fee and any certificate or origin-guarantee surcharges yourself in the mark-up field. Grid companies may change prices during the year; the date of each figure is given in the method. A government electricity support is paid afterwards and does not change the price per kWh.