Lysaker, 1 March 2006 Nord Pool has received the following information from the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE): The spot prices for electricity in the Nordic market have been increasing during the last few months. Also in the financial market, prices have increased. For example, contracts for second and third quarter 2006 have increased by 80-90 kr/MWh from early December 2005. Precipitation below normal and increased prices for fossil fuels and CO2 -emissions contributes to explaining the increase. The increased prices are also reflected in the prices offered to consumers. In week 9, the average price offered on one year and three years contracts were 479 NOK/MWh. For both contracts, this is 90 NOK/MWh higher than in December 2005. The filling level in the Norwegian reservoirs fell by 3.2 percentage points to 50.2 percent at the end of week 8. The filling level is now 1.3 percentage points below normal. The estimated effective inflow to the Norwegian power system in week 8 was 0.5 TWh, which is 15 per cent below normal. In Sweden, the filling level is now 40.8 percent, after a reduction of 3.2 percentage points from last week. ------------------------------- Contact person at the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate: Marit Lundteigen Fossdal, NVE, tel: +47 2295 9353