The capping of gas and electricity prices is extended. Burduja says we pay the least in the region

On Thursday, the government adopted an ordinance that continues the support scheme for electricity and natural gas consumers.

“As we promised, we are maintaining the energy and gas price ceiling mechanism for another year, until March 31, 2025, so that the population, but also companies, as final consumers, remain protected against possible volatility from the energy and natural gas market, in the current conditions of global unpredictability. At this moment, we have a market that has passed the troubled period and uncertainty. We have ensured and we want to ensure stability.

We are among the countries in the EU where prices have fallen even below the ceiling thresholds and we most often encounter this in gas bills and electricity consumers with a consumption of more than 300 kWh/month”, said Sebastian Burduja, Minister of Energy, according to News.ro.

The Ministry of Energy emphasizes that it will also ensure that the return to the mechanisms of the free market will be done in stages and with the assurance of a fair price for Romanians.

Thus, in the process of transition to the free market, for the period April 1, 2025 – March 31, 2026, electricity and natural gas suppliers will publish standard offers only for periods for which they purchased, on the date of the offer, a quantity of electricity/ natural gas at least equal to 50% of the consumption of clients in the portfolio.

USR: The Ciolacu government is lying

USR representatives believe that the PSD-PNL Government is “lying” when it says that it is reducing Romanians’ bills and that, in fact, it continues to maintain the scheme by which people lose and the Government collects.

“The Ciolacu Government is lying when it says that it is taking measures in favor of consumers and that it lowers Romanians’ bills. In fact, the PSD-PNL Government continues to maintain the scheme through which people lose, and the Government collects. This is because the ceilings, even if they are reduced a little by the ordinance that is adopted today, are still much higher than the energy and gas prices on the free market.

USR has been showing, for months, that we pay higher “capped” energy prices than on the free market. This is due to the fact that the prices in Romania are set by the PSD-PNL politicians, and the energy market cannot regulate the prices that are on a downward trend throughout Europe,” states a press release sent by USR.

We have the lowest electricity price in the region

At the same time, the Minister of Energy Sebastian Burduja declared, on Thursday, that Romania has the lowest electricity price in the region, being an effect of investments in “green energy, in renewables”.

“Today’s data show that Romania has the lowest electricity price in the region. And it is definitely an inclusive effect of investments in green energy, in renewables. You probably looked at the map and noticed that Spain and Portugal have very low prices. They have a large share of green energy and have limited interconnections with neighboring countries.

They are practically insular. Of course, these interconnections are also important at the level of the European Union, we must realize them”, explained Sebastian Burduja, at the end of Thursday’s meeting of the Executive.

Today at lunch, the price of electricity in Romania was 0

The market price of electricity was today, at noon, 0 lei/MWh. Between 12:00 and 15:00, electricity was free, according to the data on the website of OPCOM, the operator of the energy exchange, presented by Digi24.

It was free, but it is exported, not consumed locally, the beneficiaries being companies from Bulgaria and Hungary. The zero cost of energy is the effect of the massive instantaneous input of solar and wind energy. This, being mostly produced by private companies, can cost zero, because society decides to sell its produced energy anyway, just sell it, because we don’t have significant storage capacities yet.

After 15.00, the market recovered and will quickly reach 80 euros/MWh, at 20.00, on peak consumption.