The Ministry of Economics (MoE) has requested that AS Rīgas siltums review its planned increase in the district heating tariff, Minister of Economics Viktors Valainis (Union of Greens and Farmers) stated in an interview with Latvian Television’s Rīta panorāma on Monday.
“As a shareholder, we have asked the Rīgas siltums board to withdraw this tariff hike and reevaluate it. In our view, not all options have been used to offer a significantly lower tariff to Riga’s residents,” said Valainis.
He further emphasized that the proposed increase is disproportionately high and called on the company to prepare a new application that utilizes all available opportunities to avoid such a steep hike. He also urged the Riga City Council—another shareholder in the company—to take a more active role in resolving the issue.
Previously, Rīgas siltums submitted a draft tariff to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), proposing a 21.5% increase in the district heating price as of the 1st of September, 2025—from 74.17 euros per megawatt-hour (MWh) (excluding VAT) to 90.15 euros/MWh.
The largest increase is related to purchased heat energy, particularly from Latvenergo,
whose price has risen from 55 euros/MWh in the summer of 2024 to 76.51 euros/MWh for TEC-1 and 79.75 euros/MWh for TEC-2 by June 2025.
The draft tariff includes: a 16.6% increase in production costs to 62.99 euros/MWh; a 5.6% increase in transmission and distribution to 22.88 euros/MWh; the sales component remains at 1.83 euros/MWh; the excise tax component rises by 53.8% to 0.40 euros/MWh. A balancing cost of €2.05/MWh due to natural gas price increases.
Despite this, Rīgas siltums points out that around 56% of its own heat production uses biomass (wood chips), the price of which has remained stable or even slightly decreased. The rest is generated using natural gas, the cost of which has risen—but the company has secured it through favorable procurement, with only a 13% increase compared to last year.
From January 2026,
Rīgas siltums will launch a new 49 MW electrode boiler to replace natural gas with electricity
when prices are low, improving energy security and reducing costs.
Importantly, the company is not allowed to profit from fluctuations in resource or heat prices—they are passed on directly to customers. However, since tariffs are set for longer periods, price fluctuations (especially for gas) are accounted for in a balancing component. Previously, due to falling gas prices, there was an overpayment of 29 million euros, which was refunded to customers last heating season.
Financially, Rīgas siltums group reported 189.28 million euros in turnover for the first half of the fiscal year (the 1st of October, 2024– the 31st of March, 2025), down 12% year-on-year. However, profit rose by 31.7% to 33.38 million euros. The parent company reported 189.25 million euros in turnover (down 21.8%) and a net profit decrease of 12% to 22.465 million euros.
Rīgas siltums is the main heat supplier in Riga. Shareholders include: Riga City Council (49%), the Latvian state (48.99%), SIA “Enerģijas risinājumi. RIX” (2%), and Latvenergo (0.005%).
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