Nätbolag

Nätbolag is a company that owns and operates the electrical distribution network in a defined geographic area. Its core responsibilities include building, operating, and maintaining the grid, ensuring safe and reliable delivery of electricity to customers, connecting new customers, and handling faults and outages. Nätbolaget may also be involved in metering arrangements or work with meter service providers, but the distribution network itself is its primary function.

In Sweden and many other European markets, nätbolag operate under regulatory oversight and must provide non-discriminatory access to their networks for electricity suppliers. Tariffs, connection terms, and quality requirements are approved or set by the regulator and are published publicly. The distribution network is typically considered a natural monopoly, so customers choose a retail electricity supplier while the network owner remains the service provider of last resort for grid access and delivery. Tariff design aims to cover prudent costs and provide a reasonable return under regulatory rules, while preserving incentives to maintain reliability and safety.

Regulatory mechanisms often require functional separation between network operations and retail activities to prevent cross-subsidization and discrimination between suppliers. The regulator may mandate transparency about network information, such as capacity, outage statistics, and investment plans, to facilitate competition and informed consumer choices.

Nätbolag thus occupy a central role in the electricity market, balancing grid reliability, safety, and modernization with regulated access, pricing, and governance. In the transition to sustainable energy, they are involved in integrating distributed generation, expanding charging infrastructure for electric vehicles, and upgrading grid infrastructure to accommodate higher renewable shares.