Government hoping for universal electricity service agreement by October
The Estonian government and state-owned energy group Eesti Energia are currently working out a plan to offer electricity as a universal service, which they hope to reach an agreement on by October.
This week, Minister of Entrepreneurship and IT Kristjan Järvan (Isamaa) and Eesti Energia CEO Hando Sutter discussed the implementation of the planned electricity market reform.
Under the Reform-Isamaa-SDE coalition agreement, household consumers will be able to purchase electricity as a universal service starting October 1, and the state will also compensate household consumers for electricity prices exceeding €50 per megawatt-hour.
According to the minister, Sutter understands household consumers' concerns, but is likewise standing up for the company's interests.
Järvan nonetheless promised that an agreement will be reached in time for the harshest part of winter, but added that efforts are currently underway to finalize it by October 1.
"We will certainly take all of our arguments currently on the table into consideration," he said. "As we're in a hurry and winter is approaching, unfortunately we can't solve every detail perfectly. But in the big picture with the main challenge — which is not leaving a single household consumer in the dark or cold — that we will definitely solve."
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Editor: Aili Vahtla
