Publikuoti: 11/14/2017. Atnaujinta: 2/10/2023

Regulations of the National Energy Regulatory Council

APPROVED

by Resolution No 1747 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 7 November 2002

(version Resolution No 1327 of the Republic of Lithuania of 29 December 2022)

THE REGULATIONS OF THE NATIONAL ENERGY REGULATORY COUNCIL

CHAPTER I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. National Energy Regulatory Council (hereinafter referred to as the Council) shall be an independent state institution that regulates the activities of entities operating in the fields of energy, drinking water supply and waste water management services, waste management, alternative fuel transport sectors, and performs state supervision and control of energy.

2. The Council shall be a budgetary institution accountable to the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania. The Council's legal entity code: 188706554. The Council shall be a public legal entity with limited civil liability which has a bank account, a seal with the coat of arms of the State of Lithuania and the name of the institution.

3. The Council shall be financed through the appropriations of the state budget of the Republic of Lithuania, the revenues received by the Council provided for in Article 8(18) of the Law on Energy of the Republic of Lithuania, under the terms and conditions of Article 9(3) of the Law on Drinking Water Supply and Waste Water Management and Article 25¹(4) of the Law on Waste Management.

4. The owner of the Council shall be the State. The rights and obligations of the owner of the Council shall be exercised by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, which carries out the functions of the institution which implements the rights and obligations of the owner as set out in the Law on Budgetary Institutions of the Republic of Lithuania.

5. The public announcements of the Council shall be published on the Council's website (www.regula.lt), social networking sites “Facebook“, “LinkedIn“ and other means of public information.

6. The regulations of the Council (hereinafter referred to as the Regulations) shall be amended by a resolution of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania.

CHAPTER II

OBJECTIVES AND FUNCTIONS OF THE COUNCIL

7. Objectives of the Council's activities shall be:

7.1. to ensure supervision and control of proper implementation of heat, natural gas, oil, centrally supplied liquefied petroleum gas, electricity, waste management, the use of alternative fuel in the transport sector, renewable energy and drinking water supply and performance of waste water management regulatory activities, and energy and drinking water supply and waste water management companies and consumer rights and obligations, by performing state regulatory functions;

7.2. to ensure freedom of fair competition in energy sectors;

7.3. to ensure the technical safety of energy facilities and installations by establishing state control throughout the territory of the Republic of Lithuania, regardless of the form of their property management.

8. In order to achieve the objective of the activity specified in point 7.1 of the Regulations, the Council shall perform the following functions:

8.1. adopt, approve, coordinate normative administrative acts related to the performance of state regulatory functions, supervision and control in the energy, waste management, drinking water supply and waste water management sectors;

8.2. provided for in Article 8(11)(1–6, 8, 9, 11, 17, 19, 26–28, 30) of the Law on Energy;

8.3. provided for in Article 25¹(1)(1–4, 6–12) of the Law on Waste Management;

8.4. coordinate the investments of energy companies, provided for in Article 15(3) of the Law on Energy, drinking water suppliers, guaranteed water suppliers, surface waste water managers, provided for in Article 33(5) of the Law on Drinking Water Supply and Waste Water Management and regional waste management centres and joint waste incineration plant and/or waste incineration plant managers, provided for in Article 25¹(1)(5) of the Law on Waste Management;

8.5. provided for in Article 8(11)(7) and (7¹) of the Law on Energy and Article 9(1)(8) of the Law on Drinking Water Supply and Waste Water Management;

8.6. provided for in Article 8(1)(3) of the Law on Market of Energy Sources;

8.7. provided for in Article 9(3)(7) of the Law on Electricity of the Republic of Lithuania;

8.8. provided for in Article 11(1)(1) of the Law on Alternative Fuels of the Republic of Lithuania;

8.9. provided for in Article 38(1) of the Law on Drinking Water Supply and Waste Water Management;

8.10. resolve disputes out of court between joint waste incineration plant and/or waste incineration plant managers and regional waste management centres;

8.11. provided for in Article 18¹(4)(1) of the Law on Energy;

9. In order to achieve the objective of the activity specified in point 7.2 of the Regulations, the Council shall perform the following functions:

9.1. provided for in Article 8(11)(12–15) and (18) of the Law on Energy;

9.2. provided for in Article 39³(1) of the Law on Natural Gas of the Republic of Lithuania;

9.3. provided for in Article 34(4) of the Law on Energy.

10. In order to achieve the objective of the activity specified in point 7.3 of the Regulations, the Council shall perform the following functions:

10.1. provided for in Article 8(11)(20–25) and (29) of the Law on Energy;

10.2. coordinate certification schemes prepared by certification bodies;

10.3. provided for in Article 34¹(2) of the Law on Energy.

11. In order to achieve other objectives of the Council's activities specified in legal acts, the Council performs the functions provided for in Article 8(11) of the Law on Energy, Article 9(3) of the Law on Electricity, Article 7 of the Law on Natural Gas, Article 3(2) and (3), Article 10(1) and (2), Article 10¹(1), Article 20 (3) and (6), Article 21(2), Article 30(2), Article 31(1) and (2), Article 32(3) and (6), (7)(1) and (2), (9), (11), (18), (19), (20), Article 33 and 35, Article 37(2) of the Law on the Heat Sector of the Republic of Lithuania, Article 9(1) of the Law on Drinking Water Supply and Waste Water Management, Article 11 of the Law on Energy from Renewable Sources of the Republic of Lithuania, Article 11(1) of the Law on Alternative Fuels, Article 8(1) of the Law on Market of Energy Sources, Article 5(5), Article 10 and 11(7) of the Law on Liquefied Natural Gas Terminal of the Republic of Lithuania, Article 14 and 15 of the Law on Energy Efficiency of the Republic of Lithuania, Article 27(9)(8), (10), Article 27¹(8) and Article 49(1)(1) of the Law on Construction of the Republic of Lithuania, and other functions listed in the legal acts regulating the sectors referred to in point 1 of the Regulations.

CHAPTER III

RIGHTS OF THE COUNCIL

12. The Council, in pursuit of the set objectives of its activities and by performing the functions assigned to its competence, shall have the rights established in the legal acts regulating the activities of energy, drinking water supply and waste water management services, waste management and the use of alternative fuels in the transport sectors:

12.1. through supervision of the activities of individuals in the electricity, natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, heat, oil, energy from renewable sources, drinking water supply and waste water management, waste management and alternative fuels transport sectors, to adopt decisions binding on individuals in accordance with the procedure and conditions established by the legal acts regulating the activities of the Council;

12.2. to receive from the state institutions all the information necessary to fulfil the obligations established in the legal acts regulating the activities of the Council, including the information at their disposal from the European Union institutions and other member states, municipal institutions and bodies, and undertakings for which prices or tariffs are set (coordinated) by the Council;

12.3. provided for in Article 8(11)(10) and (16); (14), Article 26(4) and Article 31(3) of the Law on Energy;

12.4. provided for in Article 25¹(2) of the Law on Waste Management;

12.5. through carrying out inspections of the activities of undertakings operating in the energy, drinking water supply and/or waste water management, waste management, alternative fuels sectors, exercise the rights specified in Article 24¹(1) of the Law on Energy, Article 34(1) of the Law on Drinking Water Supply and Waste Water Management and Article 30⁸(1) of the Law on Waste Management;

12.6. to conclude contracts, accept commitments, have other civil rights and obligations, provided that it does not contradict the laws of the Republic of Lithuania;

12.7. other rights granted to the Council by the laws and other legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania.

CHAPTER IV

ORGANISATION OF COUNCIL ACTIVITIES

13. The composition of the Council and the appointment of its members shall be determined by Article 8(3) of the Law on Energy.

14. The Chairman of the Council and its members shall be removed from office on the grounds provided for in Article 8(7) of the Law on Energy.

15. The procedure for premature dismissal of a council member shall be determined by Article 8(8) of the Law on Energy.

16. The activities of the Council shall be organised in accordance with the strategic action plan approved by the Council, which is published on the Council's website.

17. The organisation of Council meetings and the Council's decision-making shall be carried out in accordance with the procedure laid down by Article 8(10) of the Law on Energy.

18. The Council shall consult and closely cooperate with the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Lithuania, the Competition Council, the State Consumer Rights Protection Service, other state and/or municipal institutions, companies, establishments and non-governmental organisations representing energy consumers or protecting their rights, the European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER), as well as with the regulatory authorities of other member states and the European Commission in accordance with the procedures established by legislation and cooperation agreements.

19. The Council shall be independent in performing its functions. For this purpose, it shall operate in accordance with the procedure established in Article 8(9,10) of the Law on Energy.

20. The Head of the Council shall be the Chairman of the Council, who:

20.1. performs the functions provided for in Article 8(13) of the Law on Energy;

20.2. organises and presides over Council meetings andpublic hearings in accordance with the Council's Rules of Procedure;

20.3. signs resolutions adopted by the Council;

20.4. approves the structure of the Council's administration, regulations of administrative units, lists of posts and their descriptions;

20.5. by solving issues assigned to their competence, issues orders, controls how they are implemented;

20.6. in accordance with the procedure established by the Civil Service Law of the Republic of Lithuania, the Labor Code of the Republic of Lithuania and other legal acts regulating the legal status of civil servants and employees working under employment contracts, hires and dismisses civil servants and employees of the Council's administration working under employment contracts, encourages them, assigns them service penalties and allowances.

21. The members of the Council shall participate in the deliberations and decisions on issues within the Council's competence. Council members shall have the right to distribute themselves in supervised areas of activity. A member of the Council shall be responsible for the performance of the functions assigned to the Council in the area of activity under their supervision, formulate the strategic action plan of the supervised area and oversee the implementation of annual plans in it, ensuring that the Council's annual report reflects the essential events related to the supervised area of activity. A member of the Council shall also perform other functions provided for in the legal acts establishing the internal administration procedure of the Council.

22. The Council's activities shall be ensured by the Council's administration, whose activities shall be organised by the Council's administration director in accordance with the Council's internal administration procedure.

23. The maximum permissible number of positions for civil servants and employees of the Council's administration working under employment contracts shall be determined by the Board of the Seimas.

24. The administration of the Council shall:

24.1. prepare proposals for the Council on issues assigned to its competence;

24.2. control how the resolutions adopted by the Council are implemented;

24.3. prepare draft resolutions of the Council;

24.4. perform other functions defined in the regulations of the structural units of the Council's administration.

25. The Council's internal audit shall be carried out by the Council's internal audit service.

26. The financial control of the Council shall be performed by civil servants appointed by the Chairman of the Council or employees working under employment contracts.

27. The Council, as a collegial institution, shall be responsible for the implementation of the Council's strategic action plan. The implementation of the strategic action plan of the Council shall be coordinated and monitored by the Chairman of the Council or a person authorised by the Chairman of the Council.

CHAPTER V

FINAL PROVISIONS

28. The Council shall be reorganised or liquidated in accordance with the procedure established by Article 8(2) of the Law on Energy.

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Amendments of the Annex:

No 696, 13/06/2012, Official Gazette, 2012, No 69-3537 (21/06/2012), ID: 1121100NUTA00000696

No 558, 12/06/2019, issued in the Register of Legal Acts on 18/06/2019, ID: 2019-09762

No 1327, 29/12/2022, issued in the Register of Legal Acts on 29/12/2022, ID: 2022-27330

Amendments:

1. The Republic of Lithuania, Resolution

No 1092, 28/08/2003, Official Gazette, 2003, No 84-3833 (03/09/2003), ID: 1031100NUTA00001092