Lithuania lagging behind other countries in opening power market, says MP

In an interview with the radio station ini Radijas, the speaker stated that Lithuania was lagging behind other countries in opening its power market to more suppliers. She stressed that it was not easy to complete this process at a time when energy prices spiked. The speaker does not think that the situation with Perlas Energija could undermine consumer confidence in the entire power supply market.

It is regrettable that we are lagging behind, but we realise that as a state we must do our homework, said milyt- Nielsen, adding that consumers must be better safeguarded.

The head of parliament said that authorities would consider whether there was a need to delay the third stage of power market liberalisation, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year.

The speaker pointed out that other electricity suppliers are actively offering them their own proposals, despite the fact that Perlas Energija customers have been moved to variable-price plans.

Milyt- Nielsen said that the National Energy Regulatory Council VERT and the State Consumer Rights Protection Service VVTAT are examining the situation with Perlas Energija, while the Ministry of Energy started drafting amendments that would prevent similar cases from occurring in the future.

As reported by the independent electricity supplier Perlas Energija last Friday, it was announced that as of September 5 its customers would be moved from fixed-price plans to variable-price plans determined directly by the situation in the power market. The company has approximately 180,000 clients, or 15% of all electricity consumers.

Lithuania has to liberalise its retail electricity supply market as part of the Lithuanian Electricity Market Development and Implementation Plan.

The first liberalisation stage, for clients consuming more than 5,000 KWh of electricity per year, was completed at the end of 2020.

In July 2021 the second stage, for clients consuming 1,000 -- 5,000 KWh of electricity per year, began in July 2021 and by 1 July 2022 consumers had to choose an independent electricity supplier.

The third stage for households consuming less than 1,000 KWh of electricity annually is scheduled to be completed in December 2022.