Abstract: A method for controlling and balancing the power consumption in an electric smelting or heating furnace, in which power is fed into the furnace via at least two electrodes and in which the tips of the electrodes are maintained at the same level above the melt or at the same distance from the furnace cover throughout the process sequence. Power is controlled by adjusting the voltage between the furnace electrodes, the electrotechnical quantities of the furnace varying freely throughout the process sequence. Any disequilibrium due to the electrode structure or to changes in the furnace conditions is balanced out by adjusting the moving of furnace electrodes, corresponding to the wear of the electrodes, by using the quantities measured in the furnace and the short-term and long-term variations calculated with the aid of these quantities, and the linear functions with relation to time of the variations.