The idea of an intervention on the price of energy is not new. It was for the first time debated in the market following a meeting with the press of Electrica.
Although the suppliers expected a normalization of the market conditions after the period of widespread variation in the electricity purchase prices from last winter, prices have not fallen even to date, for which administrative measures would be imposed, Cătălin Stancu, General Manager of Electrica, said in July, following press inquiries.
One possible measure would be a short-term capping on energy prices into a corridor of variation, until the factors that led to unprecedented and uncontrolled price increases in wholesale markets wolud be clarified. Another measure would be balancing the demand and supply. Finally, a third measure, about which energynomics.ro has already written, was the introduction of derivative instruments on the OPCOM market, „the lazy monopoly”, as Bogdan Chiriţoiu, president of the Competition Council, labeled it recently.
The introduction of more sophisticated trading instruments would allow for hedging transactions over the medium term and the establishment of a normal long-term reference price.
Yesterday, MP Iulian Iancu returned to the proposal of an intervention on the factors that make the escalation the energy price possible.
On the spot market, the Day-Ahead Market of OPCOM, the prices reached 700 lei / MWh in the first days of this month, which is a “stunning” value, said Iancu, who believes that the National Regulatory Authority Energy (ANRE) and the Government must intervene in the market.
He believes that changes should be introduced in the legislation allowing for these prices to be reached.
“In the electricity sector, the situation is dramatic. From the data presented to the commission, it was revealed that in the first nine days of November a price of 700 lei was paid on the Day-Ahead Market, compared to 400 lei, already the very high price reached in July, when we had a peak in consumption. We are not at the peak of consumption at the beginning of November, and yet prices are 80% higher and the 700 lei level is stunning”, Iancu said.
The previous price record on DAM was 680 lei / MWh, recorded last winter at the peak of consumption.
“An immediate market intervention needs to be made to change the secondary legislation that allows this price escalation by some producers who deliberately choose certain market platforms to maximize their profit. It is not okay for a producer, even if he is free to bid, to have profits in captive markets, in the sense that not everyone can go on the balancing market. The regulator, who knows this, must intervene and cap these increases by direct intervention, by an order, and automatically to limit this aberrant price increase”, Iancu continued, according to Agerpres.
According to him, industrial consumers are in danger of being taken out of the market and domestic consumers are facing abuses by big operators.
“Immediate action is necessary; I will make proposals to this effect in writing, after the discussion today, to ANRE and to the Government, to intervene through the secondary legislation and by Government decision to stop this escalation allowed today. When you see such big imbalances you have to intervene”, Iancu stressed.
