Tallinn residents can start applying for energy price support from Monday

TALLINN - Applications for support for hikes in the price of electricity, natural gas and district heating can be submitted by residents of the Estonian capital city starting from Monday, Jan. 17.

The electronic self-service environment for receiving applications is planned to open on Monday at https://taotlen.tallinn.ee/ . Alternatively, it will be possible to book an appointment with the social welfare department of the city district government, where an official will help submit the application. 

Tallinn has opened an energy information support line 600 6300. Both city residents and apartment associations can ask for advice by calling the number. The energy support line is open on Mondays from 8.15 a.m. to 5.45 p.m., on Tuesdays from 8.15 a.m. to 4.45 p.m. and on Fridays from 8.15 a.m. to 3.45 p.m. 

Residents are advised to opt for the electronic self-service environment, which allows applications to be submitted in less time and also helps to prevent the spread of coronavirus. More digitally savvy people could also help their next of kin submit an electronic application. 

The support will be paid by the social welfare department of the city district government in whose territory the person lives according to the population register. The support can be sought for a maximum of five months at a time, thus, in order to avoid excessive paperwork, it is possible to claim compensation for several months at a time, if the applicant can afford it. The support can be applied for to partially compensate the expenses incurred and to be incurred from September last year to March this year. Applications for reimbursement for energy costs in September must be submitted no later than in February. Compensation can be sought in March to cover expenses incurred from October onwards. 

The support is paid to people or families whose average net income is less than the median salary in 2021. In 2022, it will be 1,126 euros for a person living alone, 1,689 euros for a household of two adults and 2,365 euros for a family with two adults and two children under the age of 14. On the basis of documents submitted by the applicant showing the amount of energy consumed and the corresponding cost, the aid is paid at 80 percent of the cost of energy in excess of 12 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity, 4.9 cents per kilowatt hour for natural gas and 7.8 cents per kilowatt hour for district heating.

The invoice or the annexes to the invoice issued by the apartment association must show the amount of electricity consumption in megawatt-hours or kilowatt-hours, the amount of gas consumption may also be presented in cubic meters. If the heating of an apartment building is organized by the apartment association with electricity or gas, support can be applied for to compensate for the increase in the cost of electricity and gas used for heating. This can be done on the basis of an invoice submitted by the apartment association or an annex to the invoice, which, in addition to consumption costs, also shows the amount of electricity consumed to heat the apartment in kilowatt hours or megawatt hours and gas consumption in kilowatt hours, megawatt hours or cubic meters. 

With regard to district heating, it must be borne in mind that if the applicant lives in an area with a district heating price approved by the Competition Authority, the total costs of district heating must be presented in euros. The name and network area of the district heating company must also be provided. If the applicant does not live in an area with a district heating price approved by the Competition Authority, the total district heating costs and the average monthly or end-of-month unit price per kilowatt-hour or megawatt-hour in the month covered by the application and in January 2021 must be provided. 

If necessary, the applicant should contact their housing association to obtain the necessary documents. The minimum support per month is 10 euros per application and the maximum is 500 euros per application.