The Baltic states, overwhelmingly dependent upon Russian energy supplies, experience most directly the high costs of their neighbor’s political pressure on the EU. Paul Hockenos wonders if diversification including renewables could provide these countries some relief. Which country pays the highest price for natural gas in all of Europe? I certainly wouldn’t have guessed it before I went to Lithuania last week. But any taxi cab driver, bartender, or student in the capital city of Vilnius can tell you that Lithuanians, who are nearly 100 percent dependent on Russian gas, have the continent’s worst contract with Gazprom. They pay 30 percent more than people in other EU member states. Even compared to its Baltic neighbors Latvia and Estonia, Lithuania is getting screwed: Gazprom charges it 13 percent more than it does Estonia and 20 percent more than Latvia. It’s so bad that Lithuania has initiated an EU investigation into its contract’s terms. (Lithuania is demanding back €1.67 billion of claimed overcharges.) But the terms of its dependency on Russia aren’t going to change anytime soon. … Continue reading Paying the Gas Piper