Riga, 2014-03-20 16:18 CET (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On March 20, the Saeima (the Parliament of Latvia) adopted amendments to the Electricity Market Law, which envisage that the current payment policy will remain in force until the end of the year and starting from April 1 customers will pay at the Start tariff for the first 1,200 kWh consumed, while the Base tariff will be applied to the consumption exceeding the said amount.
However, if the customer wishes to purchase electricity under the terms of the new agreement, Latvenergo AS will provide that possibility. Further information is available by contacting Latvenergo customer service. For those customers who have already selected any Elektrum product and have confirmed their selection, Latvenergo AS has sent information providing the opportunity to use the contractual rights to withdraw from the concluded electricity trade agreement, thereby continuing to purchase electricity at the current rates and with the current payment procedure.
Uldis Bariss, Chief Commercial Officer at Latvenergo AS:
“Latvenergo customers at present include nearly all Latvian households, so the electric utility’s informative campaign in January and February, 2014, provided comprehensive information about the electricity market, its principles of operation and the offered payment options. Along with the then-current product offers, we submitted information also about the components forming the price of electricity. That information will be useful to each household customer also at the end of the year, when it will be necessary to choose among the new products and traders in order to conclude an electricity purchase agreement for 2015.”
Latvenergo information channels offer general information on the market, and every customer may visit our website www.latvenergo.lv and the customer portal http://www.e-latvenergo.lv/ to keep up with current developments in the electricity market, such as the price and the factors influencing its dynamics. The portal provides the opportunity for any visitor to view all the components making up the electricity price.
We would like to note that the electricity price makes up 1/3 of the total payment for the electric power consumed. The electricity price is determined by transactions on the electricity exchange. The said transactions will affect the electricity market offers for 2015.
Gradual liberalization of the electricity market has been taking place since 2007, and all legal entities have been purchasing electricity in the open market since 2012; regulated tariffs are applied only to households.
Focus on liberalization of the electricity market in Latvia was also determined by the Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan (BEMIP), which is a memorandum of cooperation with the European Commission, signed by eight Baltic Sea Member States and providing for putting an end to the isolation of the Baltic energy market, as well as setting specific objectives. On the one hand, the plan involved the construction of interconnections with European networks in the Nordic countries. On the other hand, it envisaged certain obligations for the Baltic countries – the harmonization of the Baltic market model with the Nordic countries.
After the shutdown of the Ignalina nuclear power plant, the Baltic countries faced a special position in the energy sector: it was clear that these countries would experience power shortage, and moreover there was isolation from other networks of the European Union.
As of today, Estlink-2 cable between Estonia and Finland has been constructed under the BEMIP Plan, and the implementation of the Kurzeme Ring project in Latvia is underway. The goal of the said project is to strengthen the interconnection between Lithuania and Sweden and improve the electrical power supply to Kurzeme. Implementation of these projects ensures interconnections of the Baltic countries with the Nordic countries, which are rich in water resources and demonstrate historically lower electricity prices than in Europe on average.
Additional information:
Jānis Irbe
Group Treasurer
Phone: +371 67 728 239
E-mail: investor.relations@latvenergo.lv
About Latvenergo
Latvenergo Group is a pan-Baltic energy company, engaging in electricity and thermal energy generation and supply, electricity distribution services and management of transmission system assets. Latvenergo Group holds one-third of the entire Baltic electricity market, thus ensuring its leadership in the Baltic electricity supply. Latvenergo AS has been acknowledged as the most valuable company in Latvia for several years in a row. International credit rating agency Moody’s has assigned Latvenergo AS an investment-grade credit rating of Baa3/stable.
Latvenergo Group includes the parent company Latvenergo AS (electricity and thermal energy generation and supply) and its subsidiaries Latvijas elektriskie tīkli AS (management of transmission system assets), Sadales tīkls AS (electricity distribution), Elektrum Eesti OÜ (electricity supply in Estonia), Elektrum Lietuva UAB (electricity supply in Lithuania), Enerģijas publiskais tirgotājs AS and Liepājas enerģija SIA (thermal energy generation and supply, electricity generation), as well as Elektrum Latvija SIA (electricity supply), a subsidiary of Elektrum Eesti OÜ.