The problem of energy prices mainly targets non-household consumers, who will have to absorb these shocks, transmitted further in the price of products, services and the entire national economy, said the executive director of the Association of Electricity Producers – HENRO, Silvia Vlăsceanu.

“The problem of energy prices is for non-household consumers, from my point of view (…) The non-household consumer will have to absorb these price shocks, shocks that are passed on to the price of products and services and to the entire national economy. Another aspect will be the price of electricity produced from natural gas. It is not said anywhere that this price has not been at the same level provided for in the Ordinance until now, except for power plants that produce thermal energy for the population. So, the price of electricity is influenced when it is produced from natural gas and it may be the closing price of the market. All in all, I do not see the moment or the decision to extend it as beneficial at this time, especially since it is very, very late when the market is already making other and different plans. Even if it was a moment of uncertainty, we had Ordinance 6, which we knew would cease to have effects at the end of March, so we had a regulatory act, at least, that we were taking into account. At this moment we have nothing, that is, no “we only have rumors, assumptions, we don’t even know how it will happen. The voucher is granted, it is not granted… The problem, once again, remains the non-household consumer, about whom we talk too little. What else can I tell you is that even the natural gas producers, the two big ones, but there are a few more, have not been consulted about this measure or asked for their point of view,” the HENRO representative claimed, according to Agerpres.

According to the specialist, the first discussion that is currently taking place in the Government, about what will happen to the natural gas market after April 1, 2026, is taking place late.

“As long as the market does not have a common position and does not come up with a common point of view, we let the authorities make the decisions they believe are wise, with the necessary quotation marks. On the subject of liberalization, today, the situation is different from the moment of the adoption of Ordinance 114, which also came under pressure from some market participants, that prices for household consumers would increase. Usually, the emphasis is on household consumers, although we should look at the entire chain, after all, both household and non-household. The price influences are unimaginable in the entire Romanian economy. The famous Ordinance 114 was finally repealed, and we hoped that we would enter a normal path, so to speak. Indeed, now was the right time to let the market function. There are completely different conditions, and consumers are more informed, wiser. The ANRE platform has started to function and you can change and the electricity and gas supplier in a short term, and the natural gas market, all in all, is comparable to a certain point with the electricity market. So, it was a good moment that we missed once again. We don’t know what it will look like… While I was talking to you, just today I learned that this is the first discussion that is taking place in the Government on the topic of vulnerable consumers and what happens to the natural gas market after April 1. We are on February 10 and today is the first discussion, probably also under pressure from some market participants, but what I want to say is that it is late,” Vlăsceanu added.