Radio România Internațional

Tag: electricity bills

  • Energy bills under scrutiny

    Energy bills under scrutiny


    Since January 1, 2021, when the energy market was completely liberalized, chaos has been reigning in Romania, and that has already become the normal. In the beginning, people were promised a competitive energy price, and were offered, in some cases only in theory, the opportunity to choose the supplier and offer that would best meet their needs, at a competitive price. Its just that, insufficiently prepared, this liberalization has been more trouble than help, and the Romanian citizens have been forced, among other things, to wait sometimes even months for an invoice to arrive at their home, which, in addition, was ridiculously high.



    The situation got even more complicated with Russias invasion of Ukraine, this time the entire European market being deeply shaken. Romania was no exception. For better or for worse, in the last few months, things in the country had taken a path of quasi-normality. The changes made to the most recent government ordinance regarding energy price caps are now, however, once again causing delays in the arrival of bills. The suppliers say that they did not have time to modify the computer programs for classifying consumers in the categories that benefit from price reductions, so that the population may have to pay only once, and only towards the end of the year, the bill for two or three months consumption.



    Meanwhile, the National Authority for Consumer Protection kept carrying out controls, after registering a big number of complaints about how energy bills are calculated. At the hearings of the Parliamentary Commission inquiring into the causes of the substantial increase in electricity and natural gas prices, the president of the National Authority for Consumer Protection, Claudiu Dolot, stated that, based on reports, 92 companies were checked in September. Irregularities were found with 32 of them. The most serious concern non-compliance with contractual clauses, the provisions being changed unilaterally by suppliers only three months after signing the documents. There are over 900 registered complaints on this issue!



    Representatives of Hidroelectrica and Romgaz, the largest producers of electricity and natural gas in Romania, will be invited to the next meeting of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry. As for the leadership of Nuclearelectrica, the only producer of nuclear energy in the country, it has announced that unit 3 of the Cernavodă Plant (south-east) will be completed in 2030, when the company will be able to ensure over 30% of the consumption needs at national level. But, there are still seven years to wait until we get there. (MI)


  • The effects of energy and fuel price rises

    The effects of energy and fuel price rises

    The month of October will bring Romanians higher electricity and gas bills, as well as more expensive fuels along with the coming into effect of the second increase in the excise duty.


    As regards the price of electricity, the National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE) has decided that, as of October 1st, domestic consumers will have to pay more, by 0.03 lei per kilowatt. The president of the agency, Niculae Havrilet, has explained that this will translate into an additional 3.45 lei (0.75 Eurocent) per 100 kWh every month. Also, the agency vice-president, Emil Calota, has announced that the price of gas for domestic consumers will increase by an average of 6% in the fourth quarter of the year. A final decision in this respect is to be made this week.



    The first increase was operated on September 15th, when the excise duty on fuels went up by 0.16 lei per liter, which triggered an increase in the price of fuels charged by gas stations. Therefore, it is very likely that the effects of the second growth will be the same. According to companies operating in the field, the effect of the first measure was an increase by 9 bani (2 Eurocents) per liter, but prices were changed even before the official coming into force of the decision.



    Against this background, the price of the cheapest types of fuel has reached 5 lei per litter, as compared to 4.7 — 4.8 lei in mid September.



    However, this will not just mean that Romanians will have to pay more in order to use their personal vehicles. Electricity, gas and fuels are used in each and every sector of the economy, so the effect will be manifold and everything, products and services, will become more expensive.



    The explanation is simple: they influence production costs, the costs of transportation, trade and everything will be reflected in prices. Dragos Frumosu, the president of the trade union federations in the food sector has stated that the prices of all foodstuffs will get by 5-6% higher, in particular meat and meat products, dairy products and bread. Also growing will be Romanians’ interest rates, given that the Romanian Interbank Offer Rate (ROBOR) has also been increased to the double it was early this year.

  • Inquiry into the soaring energy prices

    Inquiry into the soaring energy prices

    Suspicious deals, artificially increased prices, bankrupt companies and doubled electricity bills for certain consumers are the follow-ups of electricity prices hitting a record high on the Romanian Exchange market for three weeks in a row. The National Regulatory Authority for Energy (ANRE) has started an inquiry into two energy deals struck on the energy exchange suspected of having violated the law and has called on the Competition Council to assist in the investigation.



    The electricity price amounts to some 140 euros/megawatt hour, twice as much as on the first days of this year. The first problem is related to the high demand for energy last weekend. As a rule, at weekends, the energy consumption is low, so prices should go down but that did not happen. Last year, on the first days of January, prices stood at around 55 Euros. High prices of up to 96 Euros/megawatt hour were reported on January 15th and 23rd, which is unaccountable. On those two days, Romania reported the highest prices in Europe on the energy exchange. Experts in the field say that not only is the energy demand suspiciously high, but so are the prices offered by retailers too. Most of the suppliers have announced their clients about the price increase and the need for the deals struck with them to be changed so that other bankruptcies should be avoided.



    Economy Minister Alexandru Petrescu said that that price would also reflect in the consumers’ electricity bills. He said that the risk period was not over yet because temperatures were still expected to drop, but he made it clear that after that period, a very clear policy should be put in place to secure the energy supplies. Director at the National Regulatory Authority for Energy, Marius Vlad said that the Authority planned to adopt an order disclosing the deals struck on the energy exchange so as to make known both sellers and buyers and do away with possible suspicions related to the transactions. This month, the energy consumption has also hit a record high. The upward trend of energy prices started around January 12th, when Energy Minister Toma Petcu made a controversial statement at the government session, saying that the coal stocks would only last 4 days. This month, the highest price in Europe has been reported in Hungary, standing at 300 Euros/megawatt hour. (Translated by A.M. Palcu)