The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications has completed draft legislation to amend the Electricity Market Act and Competition Act aimed to allow home consumers to buy electricity as a universal service and provide grounds for universal service prices.
Electricity prices in Estonia are likely to remain high for months to come. Prices going up, however, haven't seen a reduction in electricity consumption.
Under the new bill, households that want to switch to Estonia's new universal electricity service will not have to pay a contractual penalty to their current electricity provider, Minister of Entrepreneurship and IT Kristjan Järvan (Isamaa) said Tuesday. The service is aimed only at household consumers, however.
The prioritization of natural gas consumers should be finalized by the end of October this year. This will see customers split into six categories, and ordered in terms of how readily their gas supply should be interrupted in the event of an emergency.
Estonia is only just starting to form its position regarding the European Commission's recent proposal for all of Europe to transition to the European standard track gauge, and its decision will also depend on Latvia and Lithuania's positions, a Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications official said Wednesday.