Until the legal base is improved and enough time has passed to make sure that the process is working smoothly, there's probably only one word to say about the third liberalization stage: postpone. The households consume the smallest amount of energy in the third phase. He told the Ziniu Radijas news radio on Tuesday that prices could be set at record highs.
The ongoing liberalization process is inefficient as there are too few independent suppliers on the market, some of them are linked to state-owned enterprises, and there is a risk of oligopoly, which fails to ensure proper competition and the best price for consumers.
The number of reliable and independent suppliers is sufficient to make liberalization work. Half of the suppliers are state-owned companies, and there are only six potential suppliers, including Perlas Energija, in total. The presidential office thinks that the liberalization process could lead to an oligopoly, from a monopoly, which is not the goal Augustinavicius pointed out.
The presidential adviser believes that the attempt to liberalize the electricity market has so far failed.
Energy Minister Dainius Kreivys said the regulation of independent electricity suppliers would be tightened soon as amendments would be submitted to the government to increase the capital requirement for companies and set high competence standards within the energy sector.
One of the independent suppliers, Perlas Energija, announced last Friday it was moving customers on fixed-price plans to a plan linked to the energy exchange.
Some 1.168 million consumers, the first and second groups that consume more than 1000 kWh of electricity per year in Lithuania, have signed contracts with independent suppliers. Those consuming less will have until mid-December to choose a supplier.