The capping-compensation system has helped citizens, and it will continue to be maintained, Minister of Energy Sebastian Burduja said at a press conference on Monday.
Asked by Energynomics if there have been discussions or intentions regarding the gradual abandonment of the mandatory mechanism for the centralized purchase of MACEE energy, currently scheduled to end in April 2025, the minister stated: “The MACEE mechanism comes bundled with the capping-compensation scheme. At this moment we have not raised the issue, at the level of the Ministry of Energy, to give up this mechanism, or to gradually give it up… It is certainly an important discussion, to be done with the ANRE, and at the coalition level… what we’ll do with this mechanism…But, at the level of the Ministry of Energy, we will promote the maintenance of the current mechanism and the maintenance of these ceilings, including the MACEE mechanism,” answered Burduja.
Market sources previously told Energynomics that discussions have been held in the coalition regarding the elimination of MACEE, a mechanism that distorts the market, but no decision was made because “2024 is an electroral year.”
Maintaining the energy price capping scheme is a wise decision in the current context on the international markets, including after the outbreak of the conflict in the Middle East, Burduja also said.
“From the perspective of the Ministry of Energy, the capping-compensation scheme worked for the final consumer. We tried to find additional funds to make available to the suppliers”, he said, explaining that the surcharge brought “on the market”, to the suppliers, almost 4 billion lei. Currently, the Ministry of Energy owes to suppliers 1.25 billion lei, while some invoices to them are still unpaid from January-February.
