He suggests that you take care of the prices yourself: you don’t have to wait with outstretched hand for what Europe will give
In Europe, the debate continues on how to prepare for winter and curb high energy prices.
Although among the proposals submitted by the European Commission (EC) there is no proposal to set the gas price permit, the Commission of the European Union (EU) Minister of Energy is required to prepare a document providing for this in the near future.
Earlier, the European Parliament proposed that the excess profits of energy companies should be allocated to poor consumers, the price of electricity and gas should be separated, and the solidarity contribution should be ensured.
MEP Juozas Olekas told LNK Žinios that the EP offers surplus profit, which is generated by producing electricity not with gas, but from renewable sources for consumers.
“Lithuania produces little electricity, mostly imports. There was a proposal that Lithuania should sign an agreement with Sweden, so that a lot of profit, which Swedish companies make due to excess profit, would simply be transferred to Lithuania and distributed to compensate our consumers,” he explained the policy.
However, LNK Žinios notices that there are companies that say that doing so is unfair.
J. Olekas emphasizes that the principle of solidarity applies in Europe, and it is not only a matter of Lithuania and Sweden – the EC would be included in the signing of the agreement.
“She is like a partner, a mediator. We should have the content by December 1st. But this is only a partial solution, because other solutions are also needed,” the MEP emphasized.
According to J. Olek, we are talking about the “cap” of the price of gas intended for electricity production.
“We have two very good countries – examples, Spain and Portugal, which are asking the Council of Europe and have introduced such a restriction themselves and are compensating from their own funds,” he said.
According to the politician, there is an inclination towards the opinion that the EC would be a common buyer of European gas. J. Olekas believes that it will be approved by the Council of European Leaders. However, if there was no such consensus, according to the politician, Lithuania could follow the example of the aforementioned countries.
“We are now allocating almost 1 billion EUR for compensation of electricity prices, part of the amount can be used to compensate for gas and thus reduce the price of electricity produced at the Elektrėnai power plant”, he thought.
He suggests not standing with your hand outstretched
According to the LNK Knowledge Block, it would be even better if the previously closed fuel oil units at the Elektrėnai Power Plant were renovated. This would allow the price of electricity to be reduced by one and a half times.
“We don’t need to wait with outstretched hands for what Europe will give, but Lithuania should also do its homework and this would help to reduce electricity prices very much,” he said.
When it was written in the media that Spain and Portugal set the price of electricity a little too low. The politician agreed to follow the principle of reasonableness.
According to J. Olek, EC is now negotiating with new gas suppliers from Algeria, Azerbaijan, and other countries.
“By reducing Russia’s influence, we can manage – we have gas and lower electricity prices. Well, and without a doubt, another thing that is very important for electricity consumption is the pause in home renovation,” said the policy.
He hoped that a consensus would be reached in Europe, especially since the opinion of the President of the European Parliament and EC is very clear.
“Among the member countries, we also hear quite broad approval. There is one other country with which intensive negotiations are taking place, I think that they can also support such a proposal”, said the MEP.
Watch the entire LNK News interview with J. Olek here: