2027 budget brings no energy aid and no extra E39 funding

The Sørlandet / Agder news from the past 48 hours: the draft state budget for 2027 contains no electricity support measures for businesses and no additional funding for the new E39, two issues closely followed in Agder county. On the tourism and local economy front, the Flekkefjord railway line has ended its season with over 8,700 draisine visitors.

Sørlandet / Agder news: 2027 budget brings no energy or E39 aid

The draft state budget presented this week provides no electricity support measures for the business sector, reports NRK Sørlandet / Agder. The impact is direct for companies in the south of the country, where the price of electricity remains far higher than in the rest of Norway. On Wednesday, a kilowatt-hour cost 2.30 crowns in the south, against 30 øre in the north of the country (NRK Sørlandet / Agder).

At Bortelid Skisenter, in the municipality of Åseral, manager Lasse Liestøl describes the situation. « It seems very unfair. But we have taken note of the reality and we have to work from there, » he tells NRK. He is not surprised by the absence of an aid scheme: « For our part, we never really believed that we would get help from the state and the government. » He describes the situation as « very disappointing » (NRK Sørlandet / Agder). The government itself has published figures on business costs in the southern part of the country.

The budget also provides no additional funding for the construction of the new E39. « It may be the biggest disappointment for Agder's politicians, » says Dag Ingvar Jacobsen, professor of political science at the University of Agder, who calls the draft « business as usual, » with no surprise for the county (NRK Sørlandet / Agder). The Agder fylkesting has asked the government for extra funds to bring down toll prices. The cost of using the new road has led many motorists back onto the old E39. The government has promised to come back with a plan aimed at securing the project's finances, run by the public company Nye Veier. The content of the 2027 budget and its effects on residents are also being analysed nationally (The Local Norway).

Flekkefjordbanen: over 8,700 draisine riders and 42 nationalities

On the preserved Flekkefjord railway line, the season ends on strong figures. By the end of September, over 8,700 people had taken the draisine ride, a rail bike, on this protected track, NRK Sørlandet / Agder reports. Visitors came from 42 countries.

« Germans make up 29 per cent of our visitors, » says John Hansen, manager of Flekkefjordbanen AS, adding that in August, 56 per cent of ticket buyers were German. German tourists are the leading group outside Norwegians, according to NRK.

The company has bet on digital marketing: for many visitors, the journey starts on social media or on the website, the public broadcaster reports. The Flekkefjord line was ready for rail traffic in 1904 and the last regular service ran in 1990. It is now by rail bike that the public travels these historic tracks (NRK Sørlandet / Agder).

Lindesnes: over 200 Høyre memberships in three weeks

The collective « La Sodevika leve » claims a direct effect on local memberships. Over 200 people have joined Lindesnes Høyre over the past three weeks, and the group says it is behind these sign-ups, NRK Sørlandet / Agder reports.

« What we are doing now is grassroots mobilisation, » says Jan Terje Nielsen, spokesperson for the collective, which is fighting to have the coastal area of Sodevika preserved rather than dynamited to become an industrial zone. The collective wants the Høyre party to include in its platform that Sodevika must be re-regulated for agricultural, nature and outdoor purposes. It was the Lindesnes avis newspaper that first covered the case (NRK Sørlandet / Agder).

The local issue is long-standing. The current plans to turn Sodevika into an industrial zone were adopted by Lindesnes municipal council in September 2025, after years of debate, and a first decision by local elected officials dates back to June 2023 (NRK Sørlandet / Agder).

📌 Local briefs

Kristiansand: a man in his thirties, suspected of attempted homicide after a violent knife attack on a woman on Tuesday, has been placed in pretrial detention for four weeks, two of them with no correspondence or visits allowed. According to the court decision cited by NRK, the man said he had struck the victim several times with a knife (NRK Sørlandet / Agder).

Several secondary schools in the county are reporting cases of « shipping », a practice of forcibly pairing up pupils as couples. Police say they are concerned, and two teenagers aged 15 and 16 say they have experienced the situation several times (NRK Sørlandet / Agder).

On Wednesday evening, Fædrelandsvennen reported an emergency response with dive-fumigation teams and the evacuation of batteries during a fire, along with the account of a resident who found their neighbour unconscious on the asphalt (Fædrelandsvennen).

The same paper mentions an unsold property and the replacement of all a resident's neighbours, as well as a new listing by a person who has invested a large share of their savings (Fædrelandsvennen).

Sources: NRK Sørlandet / Agder, Fædrelandsvennen, The Local Norway — Period: 07 October 2026 and 08 October 2026