Competition Council analyzes the activity of connecting household customers to the electricity and natural gas distribution networks, in the context of the modification of the applicable legislative framework and of the liberalization process of the two markets for household consumers.
According to a release of the competition authority, according to the new regulations, introduced in 2020, the electricity or natural gas distribution operator has the obligation to connect to the network all applicants final household customers, within 90 days from the date of obtaining the authorization construction, with the recovery of connection costs in a period of 5 years.
In this context, ANRE modified the procedure regarding the investment plans of the distribution operators, in order to ensure the capacity to satisfy reasonable long-term connection requests, without affecting the investments aiming at the operational safety of the distribution systems.
By adopting these legislative changes, the aim is to boost the process of connecting household consumers to electricity and natural gas distribution networks. Under these conditions, the constant increase in the number of places of consumption will determine the expansion of the markets for electricity and natural gas supply to domestic consumers, leading to both the growth of the portfolio of existing suppliers and the emergence of new suppliers on the market.
At the same time, however, the Competition Council draws attention to the fact that possible syncopes in the process of connecting household customers may affect the liberalization process, by limiting the increase in market size, ultimately leading to restricted competition in the electricity supply market or natural gas to household customers.
“Our goal is for the connection procedure to the electricity and natural gas networks to be carried out efficiently, transparently, non-discriminatory and in compliance with competition rules, which for household customers means a process of connection to the networks as easily as possible and at acceptable prices,” said Bogdan Chiritoiu, president of the Competition Council.
