Varanger Kraft is a municipal owned

Public company

This is not the same as a Government-owned corporation.A public company or publicly traded company is a limited liability company that offers its securities for sale to the general public, typically through a stock exchange, or through market makers operating in over the counter markets...

 power company

Power Company

The Power Company was a team of professional superheroes-for-hire in the DC Comics universe. The team, created by Kurt Busiek and Tom Grummett, first appeared in JLA 61,...

 that operates four hydroelectric power stations

Hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...

 producing 420 GWh per year through the subsidiary Pasvik Kraft, operates the power grid in the seven owner municipalities in Eastern Finnmark

Finnmark

or Finnmárku is a county in the extreme northeast of Norway. By land it borders Troms county to the west, Finland to the south and Russia to the east, and by water, the Norwegian Sea to the northwest, and the Barents Sea to the north and northeast.The county was formerly known as Finmarkens...

 with 3,200 km lines and 16,000 customers, as well as retails power through Barents Energi. Head offices are located in Vadsø

Vadsø

is a city and municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality and the county of Finnmark....

.

The company is owned by the minicipalities of Sør-Varanger

Sør-Varanger

Sør-Varanger is a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kirkenes. Sør-Varanger was separated from the municipality of Vadsø on 1 July 1858.-Name:...

 (31.25%), Vadsø

Vadsø

is a city and municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality and the county of Finnmark....

 (21.88%), Deatnu - Tana (12.50%), Vardø

Vardø

is a town and a municipality in Finnmark county in the extreme northeast part of Norway.Vardø was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 . The law required that all cities should be separated from their rural districts, but because of a low population and very few voters, this was...

 (12.5%), Båtsfjord

Båtsfjord

Båtsfjord is a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Båtsfjord.Vardø herred was separated from the town of Vardø in 1868 to be a municipality of its own. In 1957, the municipality was renamed Båtsfjord...

 (9.38%), Berlevåg

Berlevåg

is a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Berlevåg. Berlevåg was separated from the municipality of Tana to form a municipality of its own on 1 July 1913....

 (6.25%) and Nesseby

Nesseby

Unjárga or Nesseby is a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Varangerbotn....

 (6.25%). It operates the power grid in the same municipalities. The four power stations are Gandvik, Melkefoss, Skogfoss and Kongsfjord.

History

The company dates back to 1938. It was made a limited company

Aksjeselskap

Aksjeselskap is the Norwegian term for a stock-based company. It is usually abbreviated AS or A/S, especially when used in company names. An AS is always a limited company, i.e. the owners cannot be held liable for any debt beyond the stock capital...

 in 1994, and in 2000 it bought the defunct mining company Sydvaranger

Sydvaranger

Sydvaranger was the company that operated the Bjørnevatn Mine in Kirkenes, Norway between the start in 1906 until 1996. Since then the company has mainly been concerned with cleaning up the industrial areas and business development...

, that it later sold to Tschudi Group

Tschudi Group

Tschudi Group is a private shipping and investment company based in Oslo, Norway. Among the shipping companies owned are Eesti Merelevandus, TECO Lines, International Transport Contractors Management, First Baltic Shipmanagement and Rederiet Otto Danielsen as well as the inhouse groups Tschudi...

. In 2003 the company was transformed to a corporate model.