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The electricity market will be liberalized from January 1, 2021, but very few household consumers know that they can look for advantageous energy supply offers and switch suppliers accordingly. The person responsible for this situation is the National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE), which has not fulfilled its obligations to inform consumers, so that they know that it is more advantageous to enter into new contracts, perhaps with new suppliers. They may end up paying bills up to 26% more in January than in December due to misinformation. The Intelligent Energy Association requests the authorities, through an open letter, to dismiss the ANRE Regulatory Committee and those guilty of this situation.
Basically, consumers who do not enter into new contracts, remaining with current providers, with them as providers of last resort, could end up paying much higher bills, with prices in the universal service offering much higher. Those that remain captive would pay more to Enel, which will deliver 18%, 23% or even 26% more energy than in December, depending on the region.
Large suppliers, such as ENEL, CEZ, Eléctrica, E.ON, where the majority of consumers are located, are the most favored by not informing customers. They do not enter into new contracts, they remain with these companies as of January 1, with them as providers of last resort, but at universal service prices higher than those of the free market. This is in the conditions in which the prices of the universal service increase as of January 1, something that the majority of domestic consumers are unaware of.
Photo Source: Intelligent Energy Association
In accordance with the provisions of GEO 1/2020, a period of one year was assigned for the preparation of the liberalization of the energy market, the dissemination of complete information for domestic consumers and the establishment of a sufficient buffer period to allow them analyze the offers in the market and start the recruitment process. to go to the free market as of January 1, 2021, is shown in the open letter.
How do ANRE providers benefit?
ANRE was in charge of carrying out these activities. In 2020, ANRE did not carry out any campaign to inform consumers about the liberalization of the electricity market, or specific dissemination activities that allowed them to learn techniques that would allow them to carry out specific analysis and supplier selection activities. offering the right price.
In fact, on December 15, 2020, the first publication on the ANRE website of an information activity on the liberalization of the electricity market was made, since on December 18, 2020 the holidays and specific activities dedicated to holidays began winter, says the Smart Energy Association.
ANRE developed the secondary law so that offers from current suppliers are made and sent to consumers no later than 3 days before market liberalization, so that there is no more time for consumers to choose an offer with a price advantageous until January 1, 2021.
ANRE states that it is not mandatory for a consumer to change providers as of January 1, 2021, but forgets to say that any day after this date means a higher cost for the consumer and an unjustified gain for the provider, writes the Smart Energy Association.
Law 123/2012 establishes, in art. 55, para. 1, that providers of last resort are obliged to guarantee the supply of electricity at reasonable prices.
However, according to the price situation published in the Electricity Price Comparator on the ANRE website, the prices to be paid by domestic consumers after January 1, 2021 are not reasonable. These are some of the highest prices in the electricity market, says the Smart Energy Association.
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Photo Source: Intelligent Energy Association
The practice carried out by ANRE violates the provisions of art. 55 of Law 123/2012, the prices that domestic consumers are obliged to pay for electricity as of January 1, 2021 are unreasonable, being higher than market prices, says the Smart Energy Association.
The Smart Romania Association requests:
- The analysis by Parliament, in an emergency regime of the disadvantageous situation created for ANRE by about 75% of the electricity consumers in Romania, the dismissal of the Regulatory Committee and the culprits of this situation and the application of the law, to that household consumers after the date of January 1, 2021 to pay reasonable prices for electricity.
- Postponement by GEO for 6 months of the liberalization of the electricity market to avoid the intolerable situation to which the majority of electricity consumers in Romania are forced to pay much higher prices through the actions taken by ANRE and allow conducting adequate preparation for the liberalization of the electricity market for Romanians.
The open letter was sent to the President of the Romanian Senate, Anca Dragu, to the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Ludovic Orban, and to Prime Minister Florin Cîțu.
Consumer order, approved only on Christmas Eve
On December 23, just two days before Christmas, ANRE approved an order to increase consumer awareness of “applicable offers to give them the opportunity to benefit from a longer period of time to choose an offer.” Electricity supply according to your needs. “Basically, only now ANRE forces providers of last resort to send offers to customers.
The main provisions of the Order:
- the possibility for domestic customers to choose the applicable supply offer from January 1, 2021, including during January 2021;
- the obligation of providers of last resort to send customers home with the universal service offer and at least one competitive offer, both during December 2020 and January 2021;
- FUI’s obligation to ensure to domestic customers with whom it enters into a competitive contract, through an invoice issued after the termination of the regulated contract with the provider of last resort, a commercial regularization, so that the value of electricity consumption reached by these customers between January 1, 2021 and the date of termination of the contract with the provider of last resort, resulting after the application of the regularization the same value that would have given rise to the conditions of application, in the same term, of the competitive offer on which the competitive contract was entered into;
- the obligation of the suppliers to update all the offers of the comparator on the date of publication of the Order in the Official Gazette.
All domestic customers have the right to change their electricity supplier at any time, in accordance with the contractual conditions, within 21 days from the date of request.
ANRE says that what it did for consumers was the publication on the official website, www.anre.ro, of the informative material “LIBERALIZATION OF THE ELECTRICITY MARKET – Recommendations for the domestic customer” (ed. Two weeks before liberalization), as well as an improved form of the application “COMPARISON OF OFFERS-TYPE OF SUPPLY OF ELECTRICITY” (ed. also two weeks before liberalization).
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