During the November 12, 2025, edition of the network’s Topic of the Day segment, the News.by host spoke about an energy crisis and soaring electricity prices in the Baltic states.
"Have you ever tried frying eggs by the light of a smoky tallow candle? No? Well, some Vilnius residents may soon have to pick up that skill. A recent blackout in the Lithuanian capital seems to back that up. Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia made a big show of disconnecting from the Russian-Belarusian BRELL power grid in February 2025 and switching to continental Europe. … In some areas, prices jumped past €1,000 per megawatt-hour. … In Vilnius, a recent power outage left people sitting in the dark as if they were in a bomb shelter. … Capacity is short, imports are expensive and consumers are paying more. Electricity prices in October 2025 jumped 25% in Lithuania and Latvia, 10% in Estonia, and in some places skyrocketed like one of Elon Musk’s rockets."
Vilnius did face power supply problems on October 27, but the outage affected only 20,000 customers — about 3% of the city’s population — and traffic lights went out at roughly a dozen intersections. The blackout was also brief, and no one was left sitting in the dark, despite what Belarusian television claimed. The power went out at 11 a.m., and crews had the issue fixed shortly after lunch.
Power grid failures happen everywhere, including in Belarus. For example, a day before the outage in Vilnius, Homiel lost power, and shortly before that, some 200 towns and villages in the Dzyarzhynsk and Stoubcy districts — along with a hospital and about 50 farms — were left without electricity.
As for electricity prices, they did rise by about a quarter in the Baltic states, but not for ordinary consumers. The increase showed up on the power exchange and affected wholesale buyers. And prices had actually fallen before that. In Lithuania, power prices did not change after the country disconnected from the BRELL grid — the pre-Baltic exit ring linking Belarus, Russia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — and electricity still costs €0.20 per kilowatt-hour.
Lithuanians felt a far bigger impact in early 2023, when the price per kilowatt-hour spiked to €0.55. Since then, electricity costs have stabilized and have stayed nearly flat for a second year.
