Each month the authorization of the energy auditors or the certification of the energy managers expires for more than 10-15 specialists, which are forced, according to the law, to submit their files for re-authorization / re-certification, we discovered from Andrei Ceclan, the president of the Society of Auditors and Energy Managers in Romania – SAMER. The changes introduced by GEO 1/2020 are materializing in short-term uncertainty for over 400 energy efficiency experts.

The ANRE announcement on Wednesday clarifies the issue of authorization from the Authority’s perspective. For those directly affected by the changes introduced by GEO 1/2020, energy managers and auditors, as well as for energy service companies, things are far from clear.

Who are they supposed to talk to, who is to (re)authorize them?

GEO 1/2020 establishes only that “within the Ministry of Economy, Energy and Business Environment [MEEMA] a structure for energy efficiency operates, the organization and functioning of which are established by a ministry decision of organization and functioning”. The Society of Energy Auditors and Managers of Romania – SAMER requests the Government of Romania and MEEMA “to publish the Government Decision on the transfer of the responsibilities of the department for energy efficiency and possibly of human resources from ANRE to the Ministry of Economy, for public consultation and constructive feedback”. The president of SAMER Andrei Ceclan said for Energynomics that “every month the authorization of the energy auditors or the certification of the energy managers expires for more than 10-15 specialists, who according to the law, submit their files for re-authorization / re-certification”. SAMER’s proposal is that “until the establishment of the Ministry of Economy team, ANRE will maintain the competences for e
valuating the files and issuing the authorizations / certifications, for a transitional period of at least 90 days, respectively that the current regulations will remain in force”.

Mandatory reporting, but to whom?

According to the legal requirements, the energy auditors, but also the energy managers and companies providing energy services must submit to ANRE their activity reports for 2019 until January 30, 2020. “Because already some of the SAMER members, auditors and energy managers, have transmitted to ANRE these reports, we propose that the retrieval, collection and processing of the data from the reports will remain within the competence of ANRE for a transitional period of 90 days or until the effective retrieval of the documentation by the Ministry team ”, adds Andrei Ceclan.

At present, there is still no official motivation regarding the Government’s decision to move the Energy Efficiency Department. “SAMER respectfully requests a public information on the motivation of the change and the vision for which it was implemented, having the belief and confidence that resources are given to the field of energy efficiency as a priority “, Andrei Ceclan told us.

The Society of Energy Auditors and Managers in Romania – SAMER expresses its willingness to make available to the decision-makers the full support and expertise of its members.

On the ANRE website are identified about 400 energy managers at national level, of which about 10% ought to extend the validity of the documents until the end of March. In the same situation, there are 18 of the 170 energy auditors, natural persons, whose authorizations expire in the next 6 weeks. Finally, 75 energy efficiency experts are certified by ANRE as managers within about 60 companies in need, also, of clarity regarding the authorization and the new way of reporting.