​ANRE makes the connection of prosumers to the grid conditional on the installation of an additional meter compared to the one installed at the property boundary, say representatives of the Association of Prosumers and Energy Communities (APCE). These meters, which prosumers consider unnecessary, will cost 100 million euros. The money will first be covered by distributors, then it will be transferred to the accounts of all consumers in Romania.

“ANRE has not officially answered what the purpose of this additional meter is. Given that Art. 21 par. 3 GEO 163 has created an appropriate basis for self-consumption charges, it is easy to foresee that this additional meter will be used to impose a “sun tax”, also reports the association.

According to the prosumers, the “sun tax” is a legal possibility introduced into the Romanian legislation by Art. 21 Paragraph 3 of GEO 163, to tax electricity produced by consumers and consumed directly by them. This is a charge for own consumption, not related to excess electricity that consumers feed into the network.

The Department of Energy has repeatedly stated that the possibility of introducing this tax was introduced into the national legislation to adopt the European directive, but there is no such tax in the plan.

In response, prosumers call to completely exclude from the law the possibility of introducing this tax and say that if there is no intention to tax the sun anyway, then these meters are useless.

How much do these meters cost and where will the money come from

The total cost of installing the meter, including hardware and labor, is approximately €450. In Romania, we have approximately 120,000 consumers, which means a cost of approximately €54 million to install unnecessary meters.

Another 100,000 new prosumers are expected this year (only through the Casa Verde 2023 program we should have about 90,000 prosumers), for which about 50 million euros will be consumed for additional meters.

The prosumers recall that ANRE President George Niculescu said: “It should be noted that the cost of this meter is borne by the distribution operators, the only additional cost borne by the prosumer is the distribution box that will house the meter. established”.

This statement hides the fact that in reality the costs of these meters are billed and borne by all electricity consumers in Romania.

All prosumers in Europe have a one stop shop

What else the press release of the Association of Prosumers (APCE) reports:

• “On February 28, we notified ANRE in writing in order to accurately report the order issued by ANRE, according to which distribution operators will be obliged to install such meters for self-consumption calculation. I asked to provide written explanations regarding the feasibility of installing such a meter. No explanation has been given to us until this date.
• On the occasion of EUFORES Green Deal Romania, organized in the Palace of Parliament, the five representatives of the European Commission present there slightly shrugged their shoulders when asked by APCE about the installation of a second meter for consumers from their European countries. ..
• The Ministry of Energy was presented at our meeting on 02/13/2023 with the reasons why the sun tax is a “may” clause and that the repeal of article 21 paragraph 3 of GEO 163 is in line with European law.
• There are no prosumers in Europe, all prosumers in Europe have a single counter.”

For his part, Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja said he would remove the sun tax from the legislation if he receives a response from the European Commission that there is no risk of violation.

Read also “Sun tax” – an initiative taken by the Government, but still says it will not be implemented / What is known so far

The story with the “sun tax” continues: NARE says that this is a non-existent problem, although it is provided for by legislation / The Minister of Ecology does not really know what it is about, and prosumers claim that we are in an absurd situation

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