On 6 September Latvia’s government passed amendments that provide for letting Latvijas gāze JSC (LG) clients choose their preferred payment method: equalised or monthly payment. Residents will be able to make their choice until 31 March 2023.
The Ministry of Economics notes that on 25 August natural gas public trader LG announced that on 15 September it will change the established payment order for households, stated that the company will no longer offer equalised payment option.
LG will offer all new clients monthly payment option, whereas for existing clients there will be a gradual transition to a different payment option by the end of the year.
The Ministry of Economics included in regulations the order under which the transition to a monthly payment option for actually consumed natural gas volume will be done.
With the amendments passed by the government, the transition from an equalised payment option to a monthly payment option, users will have an opportunity to see how much gas they consumed every month and how much they have to pay.
Clients will also be able to see the volume of state aid provided in each period of time.
The ministry mentions that one of the biggest advantages from this is that residents will be able to evaluate their gas consumption habits and take energy efficiency measures and thereby reduce gas bills.
The Ministry of Economics notes that if users decided to stay with equalised payment option, it will be the public trader’s duty to preserve it for them and ensure clear communications and clear conditions under which this payment option will remain. It is planned to carry out transition to a new payment option by 31 March 2023.
The public traders will need to inform clients about the payment option change and options to refuse no later than 30 days before change of payment option.
At the same time Cabinet of Ministers requirements project states that if average gas consumption volume at a location is under 42 kW a month in a 12-month period, LG will not charge users for sending bills by mail.
The fee will not be applied to users whose gas consumption exceeds the previously listed threshold in the period of time between amendments coming into force and 31 December 2022.
This threshold can be explained with the fact that in most situations 4 m3 a month or 42 kW of gas is the volume of gas normally used to cook meals.
As previously reported, on 11 August 2022 the Saeima decided to apply a reduction of the charge for natural gas consumption at the price of natural gas of 0,030 EUR/kWh excluding VAT to relieve the financial burden in a situation when energy resource prices are up for households whose property is an apartment and natural gas is used there for aforementioned purposes, as well as users that receive the final guaranteed supply service.
One major condition is the threshold at which it is planned to provide charge reduction. If the monthly gas consumption volume starts at 221 kWh.
It is expected the aforementioned support will cover approximately 65 000 households and will be provided for the period between 1 July 2022 and 30 April 2023.