Energy Minister Virgil Popescu explained on Monday evening that 4.2 million households have an electricity bill of only 37 lei due to low consumption and the price set by the government. In general, according to the minister, 7.2 million households consume 155 kW, and 8 million consume 221 kW.

Virgil Popescu said Monday night on Digi24 that the new regulation capping energy prices encourages a reduction in energy consumption, news.ro reported.

“It seems to me that it is too much to talk about the fact that someone wants to violate European legislation. Here we are talking about ensuring the safety of Romanian citizens and Europeans this winter. And this winter, if we’re talking about electricity, nothing has changed compared to the resolution, we’ve talked about some change, just stimulating the economy down. Up to 100 kW, they remain unchanged, 0.68 lei, and here we have to tell people that 4.2 million households consume an average of 54 kW. Then another 3 million households consume 155 kW. So, 7.2 million households consume up to 155 kW. 8 million households consume up to 221 kW,” said Virgil Popescu.

The Minister of Energy added that two ceilings are foreseen.

“We have 2 limits: a consumption ceiling of 100 kW and a consumption ceiling of 300 kW. With a maximum power consumption of 300 kW, everything up to 255 kW is paid for at 80 monies, the difference between 255 and 300 is at the contractual price. This difference is to start discouraging consumption,” the minister emphasized.

Virgil Popescu added that he does not understand why there is panic in the Romanian market regarding the price of electricity.

“To understand in numbers what exactly it is about. If 4.2 million consume 54 kW, this means that more than half of the Romanian population pays 37 lei, i.e. 54 kW for 68 money. If you add others to 155, they pay 120 lei. (…) It is very difficult for me to understand why this attempt to incite panic among the population, that the population will have unheard of electricity bills. We encourage people to switch to LED lamps, to buy energy-efficient appliances,” said Virgil Popescu.