Electricity prices for end-consumers should go down

Niculae Havrileţ, president of Romania’s energy regulator ANRE, stated the situation allows for lower power prices, Profit.ro said.

„This year we have had a few positive elements in the electricity supply and distribution sector, as the electricity consumption went up and the inflation rate evolution was favorable. These two factors combined will definitely bring a positive input in establishing the electricity price for the end consumers,” he explained, Romania-Insider reports.

A price cut by 3% to 5% doesn’t also target green certificates or the cogeneration bonus, so the impact on the electricity bills will be somewhat lower. ANRE has the authority to set the electricity transport and distribution prices, but the price for the end consumers is set by the suppliers, the article said. Any cut in the transport and distribution tariffs, which ANRE has the right to decide, doesn’t necessarily mean that the bill for the end consumer will be lower, said Silvia Vlasceănu, general manager of the Energy Utilities Companies Association (ACUE).

However, Filip Cârlea, director of the Centre for the Promotion of Renewable Energies and Energy Efficiency (CPEREE), says the price of electricity could go up by a yearly 3% until near 2025, adding that production costs by energy sources will converge, regardless of the employed technology. In a recent  interview to Agerpress, he stated the renewable energy sector is becoming increasingly competitive compared to conventional technologies and should no longer need financial support by various types of subsidies after 2020. „Meanwhile, the cost of other technologies, like those based on coal, will gradually go up, mainly as a result of providing the protection of the environment. The price will also increase because the technologies used to produce power will be more expensive,” Cârlea said.