The parliament also confirmed the Public Utilities Commission's council, which will now be made up of the Economy Ministry's former deputy state secretary Gatis Ābele, the Economy Ministry's Energy Department Director Rota Šņuka, former Latvian Privatization Agency's board member Imants Mantiņš, and Competition Council's Analytical Department Director Intars Birziņš.
The term of office for the previous Public Utilities Commission's head Valdis Lokenbahs expires today, and the term of office of three other council members will expire on July 2.
The Economics Ministry previously said it considered Irklis a good candidate, given his past experience of working on the Public Utilities Commission's council, knowledge and skills, and readiness to introduce changes.
One of the first tasks the regulator has set to do is increasing funding by bumping the regulator's levy to 0.2% from 0.17%, Irklis told Latvian Radio, citing insufficient budget due to falling energy prices.
The commission is an institution responsible for the regulation of energy, telecommunications, post and railway sectors.
