Minister: Competitive electricity price to be defined as Elering objective

According to Minister of Energy and the Environment Andres Sutt (Reform), competitive electricity prices will be formulated as an objective in the owner's expectations for transmission system operator (TSO) Elering.
In an appearance on Vikerraadio's "Uudis+" on Monday, Sutt spoke about his challenges in the environmental field as well as necessary energy-related decisions.
Host Mirko Ojakivi asked Sutt — who is also Elering's general meeting, i.e. its highest decision-making body — when it would be written into Estonian law that Elering is expected to ensure competitive electricity prices.
This decision would require Elering to make investments with the goal of providing consumers with affordable end electricity prices.
"A competitive end price for the consumer — that will definitely be clearly expressed in the owner's expectations for Elering," Sutt replied. "Whether we should also write that into law, well, we'll see, but that objective will be very clearly set."
On the topic of energy, the host also asked why the government decided not to privatize the emergency Kiisa Power Plant until 2028.
"If this sale were to happen quickly — whether we're talking about next year or the beginning of 2027 — it would mean an increase in the final electricity price by about 0.175 cents per kilowatt-hour (KWh)," the minister responded. "Which isn't a huge amount, but still something. "And it would actually make the purchase of frequency reserves more expensive too. Selling faster than in 2028, while Elering still has an exemption in effect, would not be in consumers' interests."
In 2028, a European Union exemption that currently allows Estonia to include the Kiisa plant in its frequency reserves will expire.
"The other reason involves the procurement of dispatchable capacity managed by Elering, which is currently underway," Sutt added. "And that market participants would know what will happen with the backup Kiisa Power Plant — that it will indeed be sold, and not remain in Elering's ownership indefinitely."
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Editor: Valner Väino, Aili Vahtla