The Cabinet of Ministers at its meeting of June 30 approved the amendments to the Energy Law developed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs introducing in the regulatory framework three European energy sector directives – on the internal market in natural gas, on the internal market in electricity and on energy efficiency.
The amendments include EU requirements for cross-border cooperation relating to natural gas infrastructure, including for the natural gas transmission line from and to a third country. The law includes provisions of the Directive on natural gas interconnections between Member States and third countries, sets out the requirements for the application of the derogation for existing interconnections with third countries and the authorisation procedure for bilateral intergovernmental agreements on the operation of the pipeline. The Law also clarifies the definition of the term “interconnection” and defines the duties of the Ministry of Economics and the Public Utilities Commission, if it is planned to enter into an intergovernmental agreement between Latvia and a third country or to cooperate within the scope of their competence with the relevant regulatory authorities of other countries, if the matter concerns the Latvian natural gas or electricity infrastructure to or from a third country.
Latvian natural gas transmission pipelines are part of the natural gas system of the Baltic States. Latvia has a direct natural gas interconnection with Estonia (Kraksi) and Lithuania (Kiemenai) and does not have a direct interconnection with a third country. Latvia receives natural gas from Russia through the interconnection with Estonia. Neither the 10-year plan for the development of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas (ENTSOG) gas network, nor the National Development Plan for 2021-2027, nor the National Energy and Climate Plan of Latvia for 2021-2030 plan to develop a new Latvian gas interconnection with a third country. Although Latvia does not have a natural gas transmission line to and from a third country, and there are no plans to build one, Latvia transposes the requirements of Directive 2019/692 in its regulatory enactments in order to strengthen a uniform, transparent framework and legal framework in the EU.
At the same time, the Energy Law has been supplemented with a new chapter on energy poverty, which includes its definition, lays down criteria for households affected by energy poverty, and states that the state or local government, when planning energy efficiency policies, implements energy efficiency measures as a priority in households affected by energy poverty.
The EC calls on Member States to focus more actively on identifying energy poverty and to plan and introduce support measures to reduce it accordingly.
In the Law, energy poverty means the circumstances of household residents where it is not only difficult to maintain an adequate temperature in the housing, but also where the user has difficulties in paying for services provided by energy supply operators or actually using them if any of the following conditions have occurred: low income, high energy service costs or low energy efficiency of the housing.
In Latvia, support to reducing energy poverty or the risks thereof shall be available within the framework of social assistance provided by local governments and within the framework of a protected user trading service provided by the state. Local governments should, if necessary, provide the guaranteed minimum income level for all persons in the household, and they should also provide an apartment benefit (different amount and conditions in each municipality), thereby providing support to cover heating costs. On the other hand, the protected user trading service regulation has been included in the Electricity Market Law along with the opening of the electricity market, which provides for the provision of support for electricity payments to protected users from the state budget for the funds intended for this purpose in order to protect electricity users from increases in electricity prices, which can directly impact on their solvency and influence their general social status.
In the case of identification and detection of households affected by energy poverty, the assessment of the income level of the family (person) and compliance with the status of a poor or low-income family (person) shall serve as a key feature, and the apartment benefit or the status of a social housing person should be provided to this family (person) at the same time. According to the data provided by the Ministry of Welfare, in January 2020 26,374 poor persons or 1.38% of all residents in Latvia, as well as 39,198 low-income persons or 2.05% of all residents in Latvia were registered in Latvian municipalities.