BVKB warns: education break may temporarily suspend power discount for large families

The State Construction Control Bureau (BVKB), which manages the Protected Users’ Data Information System (ALDIS), reminds large families that their electricity bill reduction may be temporarily interrupted if a child who has turned 18 is not enrolled in any educational institution during spring or summer. This most often occurs between education levels, for example after finishing secondary school and before starting at a vocational school, college or university.

According to the bureau, if the gap in education does not exceed three months, the protected-user status is restored automatically once the information is updated in the Education and Science Ministry’s State Education Information System (VIIS). Support for the interruption period is then added to the current month’s support, and the accumulated amount can be used until the end of the year.

The bureau offers an example: a family with three children, where 18-year-old Anna graduates from secondary school in June 2026. Until then, the family receives €25 per month. Because ALDIS uses data from the first day of the previous month, the support continues in July as well. In August Anna has not yet started studying; in September she has begun university studies, but the information has not yet been entered into VIIS. As a result, the discount is not applied in August and September. In October, once the data is updated, ALDIS restores the status and the support for August and September is added to the October bill. Any unused balance is carried over to later bills until the end of the year.

The bureau also notes that if a child up to the age of 24 starts studying abroad, the family can keep the status, but one parent must submit an application to BVKB with a copy of the Honour Family Card. Information about studies abroad is not automatically updated in state registers.

Under current rules, a child in a large family is a person under 18, or aged 18 to 24 if still in education in Latvia or abroad. If a person over 18 is not registered in any educational institution, they are not counted, and if fewer than three children then qualify, the family loses eligibility for the €25 monthly reduction.

At present, more than 93,000 protected users receive electricity support in Latvia, of whom more than 33,600 are large families. In the first six months of 2026, large families received more than €5 million in state support applied to their electricity bills. The status is usually assigned automatically based on state register data, and the discount is applied by the electricity trader to the bill for electricity and system services.

BVKB advises families to regularly check their status on latvija.gov.lv, verify that children’s education data are correct and inform educational institutions about further study plans so the information reaches state registers in time.