VILNIUS, Mar 30, BNS - With wholesale electricity prices in Lithuania at all-time lows, prices for household consumers could be reduced by 10 percent from July, officials said.

Electricity prices are normally reviewed once a year and take effect on January. 

Natural gas prices for households may decline somewhat from July, too. 

"We are considering different options. If we see that the price decline is significant and lasting, it should be reflected in prices for our consumers as promptly as possible," Energy Minister Zygimantas Vaiciunas told BNS.  

 "We are looking at reviewing prices not only for next year, but also this year," he added. 

The average price in Nord Pool's Lithuanian bidding area dropped by a further 6.4 percent last week from a week earlier to 20.5 per megawatt-hour (MWh).

Renatas Pocius, a member of the National Energy Regulatory Council (VERT), says that the market regulator might review prices for household consumers in the spring. 

"The council is also watching a significant decline in electricity prices on the wholesale market," Pocius told BNS. "Obviously, if this trend persists, it is quite possible that electricity prices for household customers will be reviewed from 1 July this year."

"Based on the currently available data, (these prices) could decline by about 10 percent," he added. 

Pocius did not rule out that retail natural gas prices might go down further in July. 

Electricity prices for household consumers rose by 14.7 prevent on average last January following an increase of around 15 percent at the start of 2019.  

Natural gas prices fell by 17.9 percent on average last January after rising by 12-18 percent a year earlier.  

By Vytautas Budzinauskas

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