Lysaker, 03 March 2005 Nord Pool has received the following information from the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE): Cold and dry weather has contributed to the electricity prices on the Nordic power exchange increasing by 0.037 NOK/KWh during the last two weeks. This increase has resulted in the power suppliers now announcing increased prices to consumers. The dominating suppliers have announced an average increase in the price on standard variable price contracts from 0.292 NOK/kWh in week 10, to 0.297 NOK/kWh in week 11. In week 8, there was an inflow to the Norwegian hydropower reservoirs below normal. The inflows in the 15 preceding weeks have all been above normal. During these weeks there has been an inflow to the reservoirs of 10 TWh above normal. In addition to high inflows to the reservoirs, there are considerable amounts of snow in the mountain, which can be exploited for electricity production at a later stage. High production has contributed to the reservoir filling level in the Norwegian reservoirs falling by 15.8 percentage points during the last five weeks, ending at 51.7 percent at the end of week 8. During week 8, the reservoir filling level in Sweden fell by 3.8 percentage points, to 38.6 percent. ------------------------------- Contact person at the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate: Marit Lundteigen Fossdal, NVE, tel: +47 2295 9353