On Wednesday, 22 December, the Saeima supported in the final reading urgent amendments to the Law on Pollution that stipulate compensating 50% of electricity system costs to all users.

The summary of the Draft Law states that, in order to lower the final price of electricity, it is necessary to lower the price of one of the components that add up to the final price, namely, the system service cost, and this can be achieved by means of compensation. The compensation will be paid to electricity system operators from the state budget, and the operators will, in turn, apply a lowered system service fee to end-users.

According to the summary of the Draft Law, the amendments were drafted to mitigate the negative consequences of the increase in electricity prices in the short-term, and to reduce the negative effects of the increase in electricity prices on the society as a whole as quickly as possible.

The compensation will be applied to the costs for end-users of the electricity used, incurred from 1 December 2021 to 30 April 2022.

The amendments to the Law will come into force on the day following their promulgation.

Saeima Press Service