A Lithuanian household pays for energy through four or five separate relationships rather than one bill. Electricity comes from a supplier you choose on a liberalised market, with the grid operator ESO's charge folded into the supplier's price; a flat in a block is almost always heated by the city's district-heating company, billed by the building's administrator at a price the regulator resets every month; gas, where there is any, is a small cooking connection on Ignitis's household plans; water is the municipal water company; and rubbish is a municipal charge levied on the owner of the flat. In September 2026 a household on the default electricity plan pays €0.240/kWh with VAT and the network charge included, a Vilnius flat paid 9.33 ct/kWh for heat in January, and a cubic metre of Vilnius water and wastewater is €2.44.
Table of Contents
How a Lithuanian utility bill is built
The first thing to understand is who sends which bill. Electricity is one contract, with a supplier, and one monthly invoice; the supplier collects the distribution charge on behalf of ESO, the network company that owns the wires and the meter, and the price you see on a supplier's page already contains it. District heating and hot water are not contracted by you at all in most blocks: the building's administrator or the owners' association holds the contract with the heat company, and your share arrives on the administrator's monthly statement alongside the building's cleaning, lift and reserve-fund charges. Cold water and wastewater are a contract with the city water company, metered per flat. Waste is a municipal charge that follows the property, not the resident, and lands in the owner's name whoever lives there. Gas, in the minority of older blocks and houses that have it, is a contract with Ignitis or another supplier, on plans priced by annual volume.
The consequence for a newcomer is that the number of bills depends on the building. A new-build flat in Vilnius with an individual heat meter, an induction hob and an owners' association typically produces three: electricity, the administrator's statement (which carries heating, hot water and waste), and cold water. An older block with gas cooking adds a fourth. A detached house on its own boiler collapses heating into the gas or electricity bill and may add a septic-tank contractor.
The second thing to understand is that every tariff on this page has a date on it. The electricity default is reset on 1 January and 1 July; ESO's network charge is set for the calendar year; the heat price changes every month with the price of the fuel the plant burns; water tariffs are approved by the regulator, VERT, for a period. Reading a tariff without its date is how people end up budgeting on last year's numbers.
Electricity: the market and the default
Lithuania finished liberalising household electricity in stages, and the end state is this: every household is expected to have a contract with an independent supplier of its choosing, and the old regulated price — public supply (visuomeninis tiekimas), provided by Ignitis — survives only for two groups, vulnerable consumers and households using no more than 1,000 kWh a year, and only until 31 December 2029. Ignitis's own page states the public-supply price is set twice a year, from 1 January and from 1 July.
If you move into a flat and do nothing, one of two things happens. If the previous occupant's contract is still running you may be using their electricity under their name, which the landlord will want ended fast. If the meter has no supplier at all, ESO puts it on guaranteed supply (garantinis tiekimas). ESO's page defines this as the fallback for a consumer who "nepasirinko nepriklausomo elektros energijos tiekėjo arba pasirinktas nepriklausomas tiekėjas nevykdo savo įsipareigojimo" — has not chosen an independent supplier, or whose supplier has failed. It is priced as the month's average day-ahead exchange price multiplied by 1.15 for households (1.25 for businesses), plus the network charge and VAT; ESO's worked figure for August 2026 on the single-zone plan is €0.222/kWh all in. It lasts "ne ilgiau kaip 6 mėnesius" — no more than 6 months — after which ESO may disconnect the meter with 3 weeks' notice.
Guaranteed supply is not a plan, and it has an end date
Doing nothing is not free and not permanent. Guaranteed supply is priced at the exchange average plus 15%, which in August 2026 came to €0.222/kWh — below the €0.240/kWh public-supply price that month, but only because the exchange was cheap that month, and with no fixed price to fall back on when it is not. It ends after 6 months. Sign a contract in the first week.
The price you pay has two layers. The network charge is ESO's and is the same whichever supplier you choose: on the single-zone Standartinis plan it is €0.111/kWh with VAT in 2026; on Namai it is €0.096/kWh plus €3.00 a month; on Efektyvus €0.088/kWh plus €1.00 per kilowatt of permitted capacity a month; on the two-zone plan €0.129/kWh by day and €0.071/kWh by night. The supply price is the supplier's, and it is quoted on every supplier's page with the network charge already added, so the number you compare between suppliers is the all-in one.
Ignitis's public-supply list for 1 July to 31 December 2026, with VAT and network:
| Plan | Single zone | Two zones (day / night) | Fixed charge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standartinis | €0.240/kWh | €0.286/kWh / €0.166/kWh | none |
| Namai | €0.224/kWh | €3.00 a month | |
| Efektyvus | €0.217/kWh | €1.00 per kW a month | |
| Four zones, Standartinis | €0.162/kWh to €0.289/kWh | none | |
| Vulnerable consumers, Standartinis | €0.200/kWh | none |
The three plan names are ESO's and recur across every supplier. Standartinis has no fixed charge and the highest per-kWh price; Namai trades a €3.00 monthly fee for a lower unit price and suits a household using more than a few hundred kWh a month; Efektyvus charges per kilowatt of permitted capacity and suits a flat with a small connection. The two-zone plan needs a meter that can read it — every ESO smart meter can — and prices the night, weekends and public holidays cheaply; day hours are 7:00 to 23:00 on winter weekdays and 8:00 to 24:00 in summer.
Switching supplier is free and takes effect from the first of the next month if the new contract is signed before the penultimate day of this one; the government's comparison site pasirinkitetiekeja.lt, run with ESO, states both.
Suppliers and plans, compared
Three suppliers sell electricity to households in Lithuania: Ignitis, the former state monopoly and by far the largest; Enefit, the Estonian state utility's Lithuanian arm; and Elektrum, the Latvian state utility's.
Nothing on this page is paid placement and no supplier has paid to appear or for its position. The three suppliers are the three with household offers on pasirinkitetiekeja.lt, the comparison site the state runs with ESO, in size order. Some outgoing links may earn a commission; none of the three does today. Every link goes to the supplier's own price page, which is where the figures on this page were read, so the reader can check the transcription against the source.
Ignitis
Public supply plus independent plans
Key highlights
Key features
- The only public-supply price left
- Public-supply list published half-yearly
- Household gas on the same account
Account details
- Public supply
- €0.240/kWh
- Two-zone
- €0.286/kWh / €0.166/kWh
- Period
- 1 Jul – 31 Dec 2026
- Plans
- Minimalus, Optimalus, Išmanus
Summary
- The only public-supply price left
- Public-supply list published half-yearly
- Household gas on the same account
- Independent prices only in the calculator
- Public supply closes to most households
Enefit
Exchange-tracking, with a published margin
Key highlights
Key features
- The only published exchange margin
- Hourly pricing rewards a two-zone meter
Account details
- LAISVAS margin
- 1.8 ct/kWh
- Monthly fee
- €2.00
- Network charge
- ESO's, added
- Fixed plans
- Fiksuotas, Fiksuotas+
Summary
- The only published exchange margin
- Hourly pricing rewards a two-zone meter
- Fixed prices quoted per address
- Can cost more in a cold month
- Smaller, with fewer service points
Elektrum
The third supplier, geo-restricted prices
Key highlights
Key features
- The third quote in the market
- Same network charge and plan names
Account details
- Owner
- Latvenergo
- Household plans
- fixed and exchange-linked
- Per-kWh price
- supplier's page only
- Network charge
- ESO's, added
Summary
- The third quote in the market
- Same network charge and plan names
- Price page is geo-restricted
- No public-supply option, and no gas
- Smaller Lithuanian presence
Three things behind the cards are worth stating in full. Ignitis prices its independent plans only in the calculator on its own site, after you enter an address, rather than as a published list, and its Išmanus plans track the exchange so the bill moves month to month; it also sells household gas on the same account, on three volume-banded plans. Enefit's LAISVAS adds €2.00 a month on top of the margin, with ESO's network charge on top of that. And Elektrum's price page refuses requests from outside the Baltics, so its per-kWh figure is not reproduced here — read it on the supplier's own page from inside the region.
The comparison is simpler than three cards suggest. The network charge is identical, the plan names are identical, and the meter is ESO's whoever you sign with, so the decision reduces to one question: fixed or exchange. A fixed plan buys a known number for a year or two at a premium over the current exchange average; an exchange plan passes the hourly price through with a margin of a cent or two. A household with a two-zone meter that runs the dishwasher, the washing machine and the car charger after 23:00 does well on the exchange; a household that heats water electrically at 18:00 in January does not.
District heating, gas and the winter bill
Most flats in Lithuanian cities are heated by district heating (centralizuotas šildymas): hot water piped from a municipal plant to a heat exchanger in the basement, then through the building's radiators. The heat company — Vilniaus šilumos tinklai in Vilnius, Kauno energija in Kaunas — sells heat to the building, and the building's administrator splits the bill among the flats by floor area, or by individual meters and allocators in buildings that have them. The price per kilowatt-hour is reset every month and published by the regulator, VERT, and by the heat company.
The Ministry of Energy's January 2026 figures show how much the price varies by city. The national average was 7.97 ct/kWh before VAT; Vilnius was 7.71 ct/kWh, down from 8.24 ct/kWh a year earlier; Kaunas was 9.06 ct/kWh, the highest of the five largest cities; Šiauliai 6.44 ct/kWh. The spread across all systems ran from 5.5 ct/kWh in Utena to 12.5 ct/kWh in Lazdijai. Kauno energija's own page gives 7.99 ct/kWh for September 2026 against 6.95 ct/kWh a year before.
| System | January 2026, before VAT | Note |
|---|---|---|
| National average | 7.97 ct/kWh | Ministry of Energy |
| Vilnius | 7.71 ct/kWh | 9.33 ct/kWh with 21% VAT |
| Kaunas | 9.06 ct/kWh | Highest of the five largest cities |
| Šiauliai | 6.44 ct/kWh | |
| Utena | 5.5 ct/kWh | Cheapest system in the country |
| Lazdijai | 12.5 ct/kWh | Dearest system in the country |
Two things made the January 2026 bill a shock even though the Vilnius unit price had fallen. The first is that VAT on heat rose from 9% to 21% on 1 January 2026, so the Vilnius price with VAT was 9.33 ct/kWh. The second is that January 2026 was the coldest since 2010, averaging -9.2°C, and district heating is billed on consumption: a cold month is a big month. LRT's worked examples were a €328.00 January bill for a 75 m² flat in an unrenovated block against €182.00 a year earlier, and €34.91 for a 32 m² new-build flat.
That gap between buildings is the number to carry into a flat viewing. VERT's own January 2026 worked examples for a 60 m² flat, before VAT, were €70 in a new build, €113 in a renovated older block and €187 in an unrenovated one. The unrenovated Soviet-era block with the cheap rent costs nearly three times as much to heat as the new build, and in a block without individual meters you pay your share of the building's consumption whether or not you turn your own radiators down.
Ask for last January's administrator statement before you sign a lease
The heating bill is on the administrator's statement, not on any utility contract you will sign, and it is the single largest variable in a winter budget. A landlord has the statements. A €187 January in an unrenovated block against €70 in a new build is the difference between two flats with the same rent.
Gas in a Lithuanian flat is usually a cooker and nothing else, which puts the household on Ignitis's smallest plan. For 1 July to 31 December 2026, with VAT, the plans are: Minimalus, for up to 300 m³ a year, at €1.17 a month plus €0.93 per m³; Optimalus, for 301 to 20,000 m³, at €3.99 a month plus €0.69 per m³; and Maksimalus above that at €3.99 plus €0.66. A house heated by gas sits on Optimalus; a flat with a gas hob sits on Minimalus and pays more in fixed charge than in gas most months.
Water and waste
Cold water and wastewater are one bill from the city water company, metered per flat and priced per cubic metre by a VERT-approved tariff. In Vilnius, Vilniaus vandenys charges €2.44 per m³ for flats from 1 February 2026 — €1.09 for supply and €1.36 for wastewater — up from €2.20, plus a meter standing charge of €0.68 a month. Kauno vandenys charges €2.47 from 1 July 2026 (€1.09 plus €1.38) with a €0.79 monthly charge for the standard 15 mm meter. Klaipėda's combined tariff is €3.00 with a €0.97 meter charge.
| City | Water and wastewater per m³ | Meter charge per month | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vilnius | €2.44 | €0.68 | 1 February 2026 |
| Kaunas | €2.47 | €0.79 | 1 July 2026 |
| Klaipėda | €3.00 | €0.97 |
At Vilnius's consumption norm of 2.5 m³ per person per month, one person's cold water and wastewater comes to €6.78 a month with the meter charge, and a couple's to €12.88. Hot water is not on this bill: it is cold water heated by the building's exchanger and appears on the administrator's statement as a heat charge plus the cold water that went into it. Readings go in through the water company's self-service site.
Waste is different in kind, because the charge attaches to the property. In Vilnius the administrator, VASA, bills a fixed component per flat and a variable component tied to container volume, quarterly, and its own worked example is that a household in a 60 m² flat pays about €61 a year. The bill goes to the owner as recorded at the Registrų centras unless the tenant has been formally registered with VASA as the payer, which is why a tenant who has never seen a waste bill is normal and a landlord who adds one to the rent is also normal.
What a tenant signs and what a landlord keeps
The clean arrangement, and the one most Vilnius landlords now prefer, is that the tenant signs the electricity contract and the landlord keeps everything that follows the building. Ignitis's own contract page says who may sign: "Sutartį pasirašyti (sudaryti) gali objekto savininkas, nuomininkas arba objekto savininko įgaliotas asmuo" — the owner, the tenant, or a person the owner has authorised. A tenant signing brings a copy of the lease, an extract from the property register and a meter-reading act signed with the landlord on the day of handover; "Sutarties sudarymo mokesčiai netaikomi" — there is no signing fee. The contract is concluded at mano.ignitis.lt, by electronic signature, or in person.
What the landlord keeps is the administrator's statement, the water contract in many cases, and the waste charge, and recovers them from the tenant either as a fixed monthly sum on top of the rent or by forwarding each statement. Both are lawful; the lease should say which. The trap is the fixed sum: a landlord who sets it in September against last year's shoulder-month statements will be underwater in January, and the lease usually lets them true it up.
| Charge | Usually in whose name | How the tenant pays |
|---|---|---|
| Electricity | Tenant, on a contract signed with the lease | Directly to the supplier, monthly |
| District heating and hot water | The building, via the administrator | Forwarded by the landlord, or in a fixed monthly sum |
| Cold water and wastewater | Owner or tenant; the water company accepts either | Directly, or forwarded |
| Waste | Owner, per the property register | In the rent, unless the tenant registers with the waste administrator |
| Gas, where present | Tenant or owner, as with electricity | Directly to the supplier |
| Internet | Tenant | Directly to the provider |
The meter-reading act matters more than it looks. It fixes the electricity, water and, where metered, heat readings on the day you take the keys, and it is the only defence against the previous tenant's last month landing on your first bill. Photograph every meter with the date visible whether or not the landlord produces a form. The renting guide covers the lease itself.
Setting up as a foreigner, and the usual mistakes
Nothing in the setup needs a Lithuanian residence permit. An electricity contract needs a name, an identity document, the address and the meter number, which is printed on the meter and on the previous occupant's bill; a personal code speeds up the online route but a foreign passport works in person. A bank account in your own name is the practical prerequisite, since the supplier and the water company both expect a monthly transfer or a direct debit, and the bank account guide is the page to read first if you do not have one.
The mistakes are predictable. The first is treating the guaranteed-supply period as a grace period: it is priced at exchange plus 15% and it ends after 6 months, so a household that has not signed by then is disconnected with 3 weeks' notice. The second is comparing a supplier's per-kWh price against the network charge as if they were alternatives: the network charge is inside every supplier's price, and the number to compare is the all-in one. The third is renting an unrenovated block on the strength of a summer viewing and meeting the heating bill in January, at up to €187 for 60 m² before VAT against €70 in a new build. The fourth is assuming that public supply is the safe choice: it is closed to households using more than 1,000 kWh a year, which is most of them, and it ends for everyone at the close of 2029. The fifth is living on the previous occupant's contract because the meter still works: the bill is in their name, the landlord will end it, and the flat drops onto guaranteed supply the day they do.
The sixth is choosing a two-zone plan and then living on the day tariff. The night price is only cheaper if the load moves; a flat that cooks at 19:00 and runs nothing after 23:00 pays more on two zones than on one.
Why You Can Trust This Guide
Frequently Asked Questions
What does electricity cost per kWh in Lithuania in 2026?
On Ignitis's public-supply Standartinis plan, €0.240/kWh for 1 July to 31 December 2026, with VAT and ESO's network charge included. Of that, €0.111/kWh is the network charge, which is the same on every supplier. Independent suppliers quote their own all-in prices, fixed or exchange-linked; Enefit's exchange plan is the Nord Pool hourly price plus 1.8 cents and €2.00 a month, with the network charge on top.
What happens if I move in and do not choose an electricity supplier?
ESO puts the meter on guaranteed supply, priced at the month's average day-ahead exchange price multiplied by 1.15 for a household, plus network charge and VAT — €0.222/kWh all in for August 2026 on ESO's own worked figure. It lasts no more than 6 months, after which ESO may disconnect with 3 weeks' notice. It is a fallback, not a plan.
How do I switch electricity supplier, and what does it cost?
Sign a contract with the new supplier — online, with an e-signature or in person — and the new supplier handles the change with ESO. It costs €0.00. If the contract is concluded before the penultimate day of the month, supply switches from the first of the next month. The meter, the network charge and the wires stay ESO's whoever you sign with.
Why is the winter heating bill so high?
Three reasons stacked. District heating is billed on consumption, and January 2026 was the coldest since 2010 at -9.2°C. VAT on heat rose from 9% to 21% on 1 January 2026, taking the Vilnius price from 7.71 ct/kWh to 9.33 ct/kWh. And the building matters more than the tariff: VERT's January 2026 examples for 60 m² before VAT were €70 in a new build and €187 in an unrenovated block.
Can a tenant sign the electricity contract, or must the landlord?
Either. Ignitis's contract page names the owner, the tenant or a person the owner has authorised as able to sign. A tenant brings a copy of the lease, a property-register extract and a meter-reading act signed with the landlord. There is no signing fee. Heating, hot water and waste follow the building and the owner and are recovered from the tenant through the rent or by forwarding the administrator's statement.
How much is water in Vilnius?
€2.44 per cubic metre for flats from 1 February 2026 — €1.09 supply plus €1.36 wastewater — with a €0.68 monthly meter charge. At the city's norm of 2.5 m³ per person per month that is €6.78 for one person. Kaunas is €2.47 from 1 July 2026 with a €0.79 meter charge. Hot water is billed through the building's heat statement, not the water company.
Who pays for rubbish collection?
The owner of the flat, as recorded in the property register, unless the tenant has been registered with the waste administrator as the payer. In Vilnius the charge is a fixed component per flat plus a variable component by container volume, billed quarterly by VASA, and VASA's own example is about €61 a year for a 60 m² flat. A tenant normally meets it inside the rent.
Is a two-zone electricity tariff worth it?
Only if the load moves. On public supply the two-zone Standartinis is €0.286/kWh by day and €0.166/kWh at night, against €0.240/kWh single-zone. Night runs from 23:00 to 7:00 on winter weekdays and 24:00 to 8:00 in summer, plus weekends and public holidays. A household that runs the washing machine, dishwasher and car charger after 23:00 saves; one that cooks at 19:00 and switches off at 22:00 pays more than on one zone.
What does gas cost for a flat with a gas cooker?
A cooker alone keeps a household under 300 m³ a year, which is Ignitis's Minimalus plan: €1.17 a month plus €0.93 per m³, with VAT, for 1 July to 31 December 2026. A gas-heated house uses the Optimalus plan at €3.99 a month plus €0.69 per m³. On a cooker the fixed charge is usually the larger part of the bill.
Do I need a residence permit or a personal code to set up utilities?
No. A supply contract needs a name, an identity document, the address and the meter number. A Lithuanian personal code lets you use the online route with an e-signature; without one, the contract is signed in person at a customer centre. A bank account for the monthly payment is the practical requirement, since suppliers and water companies bill by transfer or direct debit.
Put the winter bill into the budget before you sign the lease
The heating bill is the largest variable in a Lithuanian winter and it is not on any contract you will sign. The cost-of-living calculator carries VERT's January examples by building type — €70 to €187 for 60 m² — so the flat with the cheap rent and the expensive January shows up as what it is.