Chiritoiu: European Commission to announce on Tuesday recommendations to support energy consumers

The European Commission will announce on Tuesday the recommendations for measures that member countries can take to reduce the impact of rising energy and gas prices on the population, Bogdan Chiritoiu, president of the Competition Council, said on Monday.

He was heard in the Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry into Energy Prices.

"Tomorrow, the European Commission will come up with its recommendations. What we understand from the draft is that they will recommend us not to affect the functioning of the market. Our recommendation would be to find those methods that do not discourage energy saving, for some consumers a certain incentive is recommended to save money and buy low-consumption equipment," said the competition official.

Individuals whose electricity consumption between November 1, 2021 - March 31, 2022 is between 150 kwh and 1,000 kwh, inclusive, will receive compensation for the payment of bills amounting to 0.21 lei kwh, according to a draft normative act published by the Ministry of Energy.

The compensation applies to electricity bills issued between November 1, 2021 - April 30, 2022, for billed consumption for the period November 1, 2021 - March 31, 2022, regardless of the type of bill - estimated or regularized.

Regarding the natural gas bills, the compensation is achieved by applying a percentage rate of 25% at a reference price of 125 lei / MWh. Household customers benefiting from the compensation scheme related to natural gas consumption are individuals whose natural gas consumption between November 1, 2021 - March 31, 2022 is between 80 cubic meters - 960 cubic meters, inclusive.

The compensations apply to the invoices issued between December 1, 2021 - April 30, 2022, for the invoiced consumption related to the period November 1, 2021 - March 31, 2022, regardless of the type of invoice - estimated or regularized.

According to the Ministry of Energy, the total financial impact on the state budget is 1.304 billion lei, of which the amount of 494.204 million lei for offsetting electricity bills, respectively 810.729 million lei for offsetting natural gas bills.