There will definitely be enough gas to satisfy our residents’ needs this winder, said Minister of Economics Ilze Indriksone in an interview to LTV programme Rīta panorāma. At the same time she said the natural gas tariff for households may increase very rapidly in January 2023. This is why the government will have to carefully study the tariff change, lsm reports.
When asked if the decision to stop using Russian gas could impact available volumes of natural gas in Latvia this winter, the minister said she is confident there will be enough gas for households to last the next heating season, adding that the state has procured emergency reserves.
When asked about the expected natural gas price, the minister said the tariff for households, for example, is reviewed once every six months. This means the existing tariff will remain in force until the end of the year. However, this does not affect the price that is paid to procure gas for residents’ needs.
The losses from this year’s gas supply will be transferred to the next year’s tariff by the supplier.
«By law: this tariff difference or losses are to be transferred to the next tariff. We can see there is a high risk of the tariff rising unreasonably rapidly. This regulated market, which is intended to protect households, may become non-competitive when compared to other offers next spring. This is why the tariff change must be reviewed by the government. But this a topic to be discussed this autumn, not now,» said Indriksone.
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According to Indriksone, it is also planned to compose a group to discuss different topics, such as how much gas cane be saved up if room temperature is reduced by 2-3 degrees.
As previously reported, as of 1 July 2022 Latvijas Gāze JSC tariffs are up 65.6% to 89.9% for households depending on consumption.
For households that consume up to 250 m3 a year, the differentiated end tariff with VAT and excise tax will increase by 65.7% – from 1.10209 EUR/m3 to 1.8252 EUR/m3. For households that consume 250 to 500 m3 of gas a year, the end tariff will increase by 74.7% – from 0.96649 EUR/m3 to 1.6896 EUR/m3.
At the same time, for households that consume 500 to 25 000 m3 of gas annually, the end tariff will increase by 89.9% – from 0.80405 EUR/m3 to 1.52715 EUR/m3.
The state could compensate half of heating, electricity and gas tariff increase next year, according to the report from the Ministry of Welfare.