A measure to cap energy prices came into effect in
\nRomania on 1st November, following the liberalisation of the energy
\nmarket on 1st July and recent steep rises in energy costs globally. Partial
\nsubsidies of energy bills will also apply in certain cases until the end of March
\nnext year. In effect, as far as private consumers are concerned, electricity
\ncosts are capped at 1 leu\/kWh (20 eurocents) and natural gas costs are capped
\nat 37 bani\/kWh (7 eurocents). <\/p>\n
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Private households, as well as hospitals, GP practices,
\nschools, small and medium-sized businesses, NGOs and churches will see some of
\ntheir bills subsidised. To be eligible for this, home consumers must not exceed
\na certain amount of energy per month, while small and medium-sized businesses
\nwill only pay for the supply costs and not for distribution and transport. <\/p>\n
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Meanwhile, some mayors are looking for alternative
\nsolutions to reduce some energy costs. In Mangalia, a town and resort on the
\nBlack Sea, thermal power plants will run on light liquid fuel, which is
\nsignificantly cheaper than natural gas, as production technologies have
\nimproved in recent years, the town’s deputy mayor Drago\u015f Angelescu, explains:<\/p>\n
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Everything is working fine on light liquid fuel. By
\nthe end of the week, all power stations supplying the population will most
\nlikely start running on light liquid fuel and all homes will be heated.<\/p>\n
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Not all local authorities, however, have such solutions
\nat their disposal. The caretaker government has promised rapid financial support
\nfrom the reserve fund to cover some of the money needed to subsidise the high
\nenergy costs. <\/p>\n
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Some towns are already struggling to supply heating and
\nhot water to the population because of the rising costs and the debts they have
\naccumulated. This is the case in Timi\u0219oara, in the west, one of the richest
\ncities in the country, where over 50,000 homes and almost all hospitals were without
\nhot water and heating for several days because of debts to the natural gas supplier.
\nThe capital Bucharest, itself, whose heat network is far from perfect, will see
\ncosts in heating and hot water double compared with last year, unless the municipal
\nauthorities increase their subsidies. All in all, it looks like this is going
\nto be a very difficult winter for many. (CM)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A cap on electricity and natural gas prices came into force in Romania, which does not alleviate consumers fears.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":90227,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[28918],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-90226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-energy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n