Overload fee
Session: 15th Riigikogu, 5th sitting, press briefing.
Date: 2025-03-19 15:49
Participating Politicians:
Total Speeches: 4
Membership: 15
Agenda Duration: 5m
AI Summaries: 4/4 Speeches (100.0%)
Analysis: Structured Analysis
Politicians Speaking Time
Politicians
Analysis
Summary
In the information session, the tenth question addressed the topic of overload charges in the energy sector. Member of the Riigikogu, Andres Metsoja, posed a question to Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, asking why Estonia cannot use the revenue from overload charges to make electricity bills more affordable, as Finland does, and why Estonia has found itself in an unequal situation compared to Finland in the energy market within the unified European Union. Metsoja referred to criticism from the CEO of Eesti Energia, Andrus Durejko, who considered the current energy sales system unreasonable from a societal perspective.
Prime Minister Kallas explained that the European Union’s electricity market regulation establishes priorities for the use of revenue from overload charges. First, this money must be used to increase transmission capacities (e.g., the construction of Estlink 3) and to improve access to the electricity market, in order to reduce the risk of blackouts in the future. Only when these two objectives cannot be fully achieved can the money be used to reduce consumer costs. Kallas emphasized that this is a financial choice: whether to collect money in advance to build connections (through overload charges) or to cover costs with a loan and pay later with interest. Prime Minister Kallas attributed Finland’s lower prices to long-term energy choices, such as the proportion of hydro and nuclear power in their portfolio.
Decisions Made 1
Decisions were not made.
Esimees Lauri Hussar
AI Summary
Chairman Lauri Hussar announced that there will be another question related to energy, which MP Andres Metsoja will present to Prime Minister Kristen Michal on the topic of the overload fee.
Andres Metsoja
Profiling Isamaa fraktsioonAI Summary
The presentation highlights the fundamental principles of Estonia's energy strategy — reliability, affordability and cleanliness — but also points out the misalignment in the current pricing and congestion-charge system, which makes Estonia's electricity market unequal to Finland's in the European Union's internal energy market.
Peaminister Kristen Michal
AI Summary
Prime Minister Kristen Michal explains that Elering is raising funds for the construction of new interconnections, and the primary aims are to increase transmission capacities and improve access to the electricity market, and only after that can the surplus money be distributed to consumers, in accordance with the European electricity market regulation.
Esimees Lauri Hussar
AI Summary
Speaker Lauri Hussar announced that at the information briefing there are two minutes for questions and three for answers, and there are no additional questions; he thanked the members of the government and his colleagues, and said that the Riigikogu plenary session begins exactly at 14:00.