Elektrilevi says the hike is needed to cover rising wholesale transmission service costs from grid distributor Elering and a shortfall in network revenue due to falling transmission volumes. The company has invested €300 million in its network over the past two years, mainly through loans and withheld dividends, but says this approach is unsustainable, so the fee must be increased.

Elektrilevi's CFO Kristi Ojakäär said: "It is vital that changes to the regulated business pricing happen simultaneously with changes in service procurement prices. Otherwise, revenues will not cover costs, and the company would have to rely on loans for its core operations."

"Our goal is to consistently invest in the network's reliability to reduce the number of failures and outages," he added.

Elektrilevi's monthly fee and transmission capacity charges will change, but kWh prices, regulated additional services, and reactive energy charges will remain the same. The monthly fee change will depend on the network package and main fuse size. Due to a transmission service price change in January and another one in July, Elektrilevi faces a €0.5 million monthly cost, while network transmission volumes are about 2 percent lower than current fees reflect.

The Competition Authority (Konkurentsiamet) approved Elektrilevi's network fee price list change, effective August 1, on April 22.

Elektrilevi says it has invested €300 million in the network over the past two years, including new connections, with €70 million covered by network fees.

Most investments were financed through loans and by not paying dividends. However, Elektrilevi says this isn't sustainable long term. Ojakäär emphasized that, as a provider of a vital service, Elektrilevi must ensure both costs and investments are covered by network fees for long-term sustainability.

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