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Lithuanian cabinet approves electricity supply market liberalization

BC, Vilnius, 18.12.2019.Print version
The Lithuanian government on Wednesday gave the go-ahead for liberalizing the retail electricity supply market between 2021 and 2023, which means that the state regulation of electricity prices for household consumers will be phased out, informed LETA/BNS.

The measure has yet to be approved by the Seimas.


Energy Minister Zygimantas Vaiciunas says consumers will benefit in that the supply monopoly will be abolished, the market will be opened up to competition and they will be able to get better service by choosing their supplier.  


According to him, the introduction of smart electricity meters will take place alongside the liberalization process. 


If approved by the Seimas, the market will be liberalized in three phases.


In the first phase starting in 2021, the state would stop regulating prices for retail consumers using over 5 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity annually and those connected to the medium-voltage grid, accounting for 8.4% of all consumers. 

Consumers using over 1 MWh per year (around 46%) and those using less than 1 MWh (46%) will be able to choose their supplier starting in 2022 and 2023, respectively. 


The regulator will set a separate guaranteed price for vulnerable consumers who will not choose an independent supplier. 


Currently, business consumers can choose their electricity suppliers, but most households purchase electricity from the state-owned supplier Ignitis at prices set by the National Energy Regulatory Council twice a year. 


The liberalization of the electricity market is one of Lithuania's commitments to the EU.

By comparison, Sweden fully liberalized its electricity supply market back in 1996, followed by Finland in 1997, Estonia in 2013 and Latvia in 2015. 






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