The fee will appear as a separate line item on end consumers' electricity bills and will remain at the same rate throughout the next year.

Consumers will see the balancing fee for the first time in February, when they receive bills for electricity consumed in January. It will add about €1.20 per month, including VAT, to the electricity bill of an average household consuming 250 kilowatt-hours per month.

"The balancing capacity fee is intended to fund the reserves needed to maintain frequency stability. Figuratively speaking, the fee can be seen as the price of energy independence after disconnecting from the Russian-controlled energy system," said Elering CEO Kalle Kilk.

This year, Elering covered the cost of frequency reserves itself, using congestion revenue.

Under the approved methodology, producers and consumers will jointly cover the cost of frequency control reserves up to a maximum of €60 million next year. If the total cost exceeds €60 million, Elering will cover the excess.

Baltic system operators had forecast that Estonia's share of frequency reserve procurement costs this year would be about €60 million. But from February to July alone, the cost reached €56 million. The summer forecast revised the annual estimate upward to roughly €100 million.

The fee is cost-based, meaning Elering will adjust it in future years with six months' notice, depending on changes in the actual costs of purchasing reserves.

Security of supply fee

Starting in January 2026, an additional fee will also be added to the electricity transmission, or network service, bill: the security of supply fee.

This fee will cover the costs required to ensure a sufficient amount of capacity during periods when renewable energy production is low due to weather conditions, but consumption is high, for example, during cold winter spells.

The forecasted impact of this fee on the average household consumer is just over €2 per month, including VAT.

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