The Government has introduced new measures to help
\nhousehold consumers and SMEs cope with the increase in energy prices. The
\nmeasures will take effect only over the next two months. By means of an
\nemergency decree, the Government introduced a new quantum of fines that
\nauthorities can hand out to energy distributors who miscalculate bills, of up
\nto 40 thousand Euro. The law also comes with a new formula for subsidizing and
\ncapping energy bills, applicable to citizens and businesses. The measures
\ncannot be applied in retrospect for the month of January, as PSD requested.
\nAccording to an approval issued by the Justice Ministry, household users will
\nbe given larger subsidies, of up to 0.291 lei per kWh and up to 40% of the
\nprice for natural gas. At the same time, the price for both electricity and
\nnatural gas will be capped. Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuc\u0103 explains:<\/p>\n
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\n
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Household users will pay a maximum of 80 bani for
\nkWh and 31 bani for natural gas, irrespective of consumption. If household
\nconsumption is below 500 kWh or 300 m\u00ad3 of gas, users will pay 68
\nbani per hWh and 22 bani for m\u00ad3 of gas, with all taxes included. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In turn, Energy Minister Virgil Popescu explained
\nhow energy bills are calculated while factoring in the new subsidy and capping
\nregulations. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
When consumption stood at 500 kWh prior to
\nincreasing the ceiling, people paid 1 Leu per kWh. Now that the ceiling has
\nbeen decreased, people will pay 80 bani or 68 bani, wherever the discount
\napplies. The total value of the bill stands at some 300 Lei. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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\n
<\/p>\n
The Government decree also provides for discounts
\nfor non-household users, for whom prices will be capped at 1 Leu for
\nelectricity and at 37 bani for natural gas. The measures don’t apply to large
\nenergy consumers, for instance heating power plants, which will be provided
\nwith state aid under a programme approved by the European Commission. The
\nGovernment hasn’t yet decided what will happen starting April 1. The new
\nmeasures will be discussed at the level of the ruling coalition. Some lawmakers
\nhave suggested a rollback to the regulated market for a few months. Many
\nRomanians have recently complained about excessively high electricity and gas
\nbills, after part of the distributors did not apply the new cap and subsidy
\nstandards, which came into force on November 1, 2021. (VP)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Romanian Government has passed a decree stipulating new measures in the energy sector<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":90227,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[40450,32599,31554,33029,36089],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-90960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-caps-and-subsidies","tag-energy-prices","tag-government-decree","tag-nicolae-ciuca","tag-virgil-popescu"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n