ANRE (The National Energy Regulatory Authority) announced that out of the 8.700.000 household consumers in Romania more that 50% can be classified as “vulnerable”, with an average consumption of 55 kWh / month.  

The news comes amid discussions regarding the full liberalization of Romania’s electricity market which took place in the beginning of this year. However, at the end of October 2020 only 32,8% of the household consumers had chosen to enter into supply contracts at competitive prices. The concern has increased because consumers who do not move to the competitive market risk paying prices that are 13-26% higher. 

The question of protecting vulnerable consumers has been on the authorities’ agenda for many years now and came into the spotlight in 2018, when a price cap for gas was introduced as a response to drastic price increases which made it difficult for vulnerable consumers to cover their energy costs. Discussions had been stuck at the time because local authorities found it extremely difficult to define and identify these vulnerable consumers.

The numbers presented by ANRE this week are based on the reports related to the first semester of 2020, sent by the suppliers to ANRE in order to obtain the data necessary for the reporting to INS-EUROSTAT.