​Eurostat recently revealed that the prices of electricity and natural gas consumed by households in Romania are among the highest in the EU. Romania is in the TOP-3 with the highest prices for electricity and in second place for the price of natural gas. According to HotNews.ro, Eurostat took into account the contract prices and not the capped prices that the consumer actually pays, but this shows an anomaly, namely that somewhere in the producer-supplier chain there are market participants who make a lot of profit.

In addition, according to HotNews.ro sources, checks are currently being carried out in the market to discover where these unjustified prices are practiced.

Eurostat data actually show that prices in contracts between suppliers and domestic consumers are among the highest in Europe, putting Romania at the forefront of rising electricity and natural gas prices. These are not the prices that customers pay directly, they are limited until March 2025, but indirectly consumers also bear them, taking into account the compensations paid by the state. Practically, the restrictions hide excessively high prices for Romania somewhere in the producer-supplier chain. Who can be a beneficiary?

Who benefits?

Some HotNews.ro sources say that it is not the suppliers who are profiting from this. Under the cap-compensation scheme, suppliers demand that the price difference be settled, and the Government must pay from the Transition Fund, which is never enough.

Suppliers, however, complain that the state records delays in payment, and in anticipation of debt they are forced to take loans from banks, and “money is expensive.” Suppliers say the state owes 1.3 billion lei in bill payments and will need several billion more by the end of the year to cover all payments.

On the other hand, Energy Minister Sebastián Burduja recently announced that he has asked the National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE) to start inspections of gas suppliers that keep prices unreasonably high. HotNews.ro sources also talk about control of the electricity market.

The price is also capped for manufacturers until 2023. They are obliged to sell through MACEE – the mechanism of centralized purchase of electricity, at a price of 450 lei/MWh. This is the purchase price, plus shipping, distribution and supplier markups. Let this price be unreasonably high, and those who sell make huge profits? This is a question that ANRE must answer after the control it carries out on the market.

And the Romanian state could benefit as a shareholder of large energy companies. The higher the profits, the higher the dividends to the shareholders, and the state could collect more billions of lei for the budget.

“Statistics indicate a clear malfunction of the gas and electricity market in Romania”

The Eurostat statistics should be interpreted correctly, and even if the increase in the actual price paid by the population was not high, they show a clear dysfunction of the gas and electricity market in Romania and a great concern about when the restrictions will no longer be applied, showed in a press release Intelligent Energy Association.

According to the Association, Eurostat’s figures are a strong alarm and highlight a big problem: they show where prices in Romania will be after the threshold in relation to prices in European countries.

Where we stand with contract pricing

In terms of the amount of electricity consumed by household consumers, Romania even entered the top three in the EU after such countries as the Netherlands and Belgium. Romania is immediately followed by Germany.

In terms of gas consumption by households, we are still somewhere at the top of the hierarchy, in 6th place after the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Austria and Ireland, and in 2nd place for the highest price.

In the first half of 2023, average prices for electricity consumed by EU households increased, compared to the same period in 2022, from €25.3/100 kWh to €28.9/100 kWh. Average gas prices also increased from €8.6/100 kWh to €11.9/100 kWh.

In the power industry, a huge growth of the national currency was registered in Lithuania (+ 88%), Romania (+ 77%) and Latvia (+ 74%). A significant drop in the national currency was recorded in Spain (-41%) and Denmark (-16%).

Gas prices (in national currency) increased the most in Latvia (+ 139%), Romania (+ 134%), Austria (+ 103%), the Netherlands (+ 99%) and Ireland (+ 73%). At the opposite pole, Estonia, Croatia and Italy fell from -0.6% to -0.5%, while in Lithuania the price remained unchanged.

What are the limit prices?

Household electricity consumers until 31.03.2025:

• A maximum of 0.68 lei/kWh, based on the monthly tariff from 0 to 100 kWh inclusive
• Maximum 0.80 lei/kWh, for monthly consumption from 100.01 to 255 kWh inclusive
• From 0.8 lei/kWh to 1.3 lei/kWh, with a monthly consumption of more than 255 kWh but less than 300 kWh, the first 255 will be billed at 0.8 lei/kWh and the rest – 1.3 lei/kWh.
• A maximum of 1.30 lei/kWh, with a monthly consumption of more than 300 kWh

For non-household electricity consumers until 31.03.2025:

• A maximum of 1 lei/kWh for 85% of the monthly consumption at the point of consumption, the difference in consumption is charged to a maximum of 1.3 lei/kWh.
• A maximum of 1 lei/kWh for hospitals, schools, kindergartens, nurseries, social service centers

Household consumers of natural gas until March 31, 2025:

• The price is limited to 0.31 lei/kWh

For non-household consumers of natural gas until March 31, 2025:

• A maximum of 0.37 lei/kWh, with an annual consumption of no more than 50,000 MWh and for thermal energy producers.

Read also

• The price of gas remains persistently low, at the level before the energy crisis / Is the cap still justified?
• The energy price cap scheme is a big problem for the government, as well as for suppliers / What scenarios are being considered