10,000 sign petition demanding that electricity distribution fees and mandatory procurement component be abandoned

  • 2017-03-29
  • BNS/TBT Staff

RIGA - 10,000 signatures have been collected on the Manabalss.lv public initiatives website to demand that electricity distribution fees of the joint-stock electricity distribution company Sadales Tikls and the mandatory procurement component, approved in August 2016, be abandoned.

The initiative was started by Romans Ostrovskis. He explains that the monthly light bills received by households in Latvia are comprised of the cost of electricity, the cost of electricity distribution service, and the mandatory procurement component.

In Ostrovskis' words, the mandatory procurement component has increased residents' monthly payments for electricity. Each resident of Latvia who pays for electricity he or she is supplied therefore also helps maintain and sponsors owners of power plants that sell electricity as part of the mandatory procurement system.

According to the petition, however, the directives of the European Union do not stipulate support for power plants and other electricity producers at the expense of consumers. Instead, the directives stipulate that support for renewable energy production has to come from the state.

Therefore, it is a duty of the state, not residents, to support renewable electricity producers, points out Ostrovskis.