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Reduced energy use has not resulted in lower bills
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Focus on cutting consumption not reducing prices
Danes have focused on cutting energy use for a decade without saving any money. While electricity consumption has dropped by seven percent since 2005, the price of electricity has increased.
Figures from Nykredit show the price of electricity increased by 31 percent from 2005 to 2015, while average energy use by a Danish household fell by seven percent.
Cutting use still a good idea
However, cutting consumption has helped keep a few kroner in homeowners' pockets.
According to Nykredit, a family who paid 10,000 kroner for energy in 2005 now pays over 12,000 kroner today, but that bill would have been 31 percent higher had consumption not been reduced.
READ MORE: Denmark wins prestigious energy efficiency prize
Consumer economist Johan Juul-Jensen from Nykredit said that making home renovations that increase energy efficiency are a way for homeowners to save even more money.
“Following the financial crisis, many Danes saved money on their home loans, which currently stand at a zero interest rate,” Juul-Jensen told Jyllands-Posten.
“That money can be used to improve the home's energy class, which will both save money and increase the selling price.”