We have a problem in the way the financial sources are secured at the Transitional Fund from which the payments for the settlement are made and I think that, at this moment, at the two ministries, there are somewhere over three billion lei of payment, said the executive director of the Federation of Associations of Energy Utility Companies (ACUE), Dana Dărăban.
“We know that in 2024, the part of the allocation procedure for both sectors- natural gas and electricity is closed. What happens to the final price? The final price remains capped until March 2025 for the domestic and non-domestic customer. Now we have the following themes: what happens in Q1 of 2025, in the sense that this Ordinance only works with the scenario of the price decrease. There is no scenario 2, in case the price increases. I would very much like, if it is written in a Government Ordinance that the price decreases, to decrease, but sometimes life has shown us the opposite. So we only work with this scenario and then in the situation where the supplier is obliged to keep the ceiling price at the price finally to the consumer, it is the state’s decision, but then it must provide the necessary funds. Next, we have a problem in the way the financial sources are secured to the Transition Fund from which payments are made for the settlement. I would like to correct something, although I have tried before: suppliers are not settled, an obligation that the state has made to its customers is paid. The state promised the customers-consumers in this country that it would provide them with energy at a certain price. It used the suppliers to fulfill this wish and now it follows that the state, however, until the end of the road, proves that it was serious and that it fulfills all its payment obligations to the suppliers, and the exit from the capping scheme and the part of of competition on the market to ensure a fair game for all suppliers,” said Dărăban, according to Agerpres.
The ACUE representative mentioned the fact that the price settlement project was “cumbersome and bureaucratic”.
“I think that, at the moment, at the two ministries, cumulatively, there are somewhere over three billion lei (in payment, n.r.), but it would be interesting to look at the structure as well, to see how cumbersome and bureaucratic it was however, you will see that, including today, we have about three million pending at the Ministry of Energy, for 2023, which shows us that the bulk is in continue. We are making the payments for 2023 and we are in June 2024 and we still have two million or so for 2024, which shows that it is settled a little for this year, because it starts to reflect the price on the wholesale,” said the head of the profile association.
Regarding the fifth regulation period of the energy market, which is to start in 2025, the energy specialist emphasized that he must ensure the development strategy of investment networks.
“I think we should treat (National Energy Strategy, n.r.) seriously, look at this document and let’s ensure a point of view from all interested parties. This strategy must include some action plans for otherwise it will be a document that will remain there. If we do not implement these strategies, we will end up saying that Romania will be an energy hub in 10 years , in Romania “there will be an energy hub”. There is no way to achieve these goals if you don’t do all the things it entails. An energy hub requires an extraordinarily rich trading activity to sell a lot to be an energy hub. We had a problem with the trading activity last year, not saying that maybe certain areas were not correctable, but we venture, cut, take out, put back in the room, so on. All the time, from one extreme to another. I expect that the 5th regulatory period will really represent a framework that ensures the development strategy of investment networks in networks, because it will be the cornerstone for 2030. Without a good situation in 2030, Romania still loses a chance,” said Dărăban.
