Burduja: We want to put pressure on electricity and gas suppliers to lower prices. The price reductions could be felt from May-June / UPDATE: The problem is with the producers, say the suppliers

​The Ministry of Energy wants to put pressure on suppliers to lower the price of electricity and natural gas even more, by lowering the ceilings at which they buy from producers, said Sebastian Burduja, the relevant minister, on Tuesday. These reductions could be felt from May to June, he added.

“This week we are preparing for an optimization of the capping-compensation scheme, through which the prices in the invoices could further decrease. In no case will they increase, because the ceilings (for final consumers – no) do not change. But we want to put even more pressure on suppliers to lower prices for both electricity and natural gas by lowering the cap at which producers sell energy,” Burduja said at the Energy Forum conference organized by DC News.

• UPDATE On the other hand, Dana Dărăban, the executive director of the Association of Utility Companies (ACUE) showed that the problem is the high price at which producers sell.

• “We recommend the ministry to put pressure on the electricity and gas producers, not the suppliers. The problem is the wholesale price at which suppliers purchase energy. Suppliers have regulated supply margins”, said Dărăban, for HotNews.ro.
• The price drop is already reflected in supply offers below the maximum ceiling, she added.

In electricity, the ceiling for household consumers was set at 0.68 lei per kWh for consumption below 100 kWh, 0.8 lei per kWh for 100-255 kWh and 1.3 lei per kWh for consumption over 300 kWh.

For gas, the ceiling is 0.31 lei per kWh.

On the stock market, prices have returned to pre-energy crisis times, but not on bills

In January 2021, domestic electricity consumers could conclude contracts for 0.25 lei per kWh, i.e. at a price three times lower than the current lowest ceiling.

According to the ministry’s plans, the price at which producers sell electricity to suppliers with final customers will decrease from 450 lei per MWh to 400 lei, and the centralized purchase mechanism will be optional.

The price at which gas producers sell will decrease from 150 lei per MWh to 120 lei.

“We expect people’s bills to go down. Maybe it won’t be a huge drop. We see depending on the evolution of the market, after April 1 these changes will start to be put into motion. Suppliers will buy power and gas more cheaply after those caps are lowered. This means that somewhere in May-June, Romania will be able to feel this movement”, Burduja also said, also on Tuesday, on B1.

He showed that, at European level, we have the fifth cheapest electricity and the fourth cheapest gas, according to Eurostat data from the third quarter of last year.

Another change the Ministry of Energy wants is to extend the scheme by one year, until March 31, 2026.

Read also: Contradictory statements about the price of energy / The market has adjusted, says Chirițoiu, while the Minister of Energy claims that there is a risk that the bills will go crazy

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