Chirițoiu: Energy Market Must Be Liberalized, Rules Adjusted

The energy market should be liberalized, given that the price shock has passed and extraordinary measures are no longer needed, says Bogdan Chirițoiu, president of the Competition Council. At the same time, however, there is a need to amend the regulations so that suppliers no longer sell energy they do not have or terminate contracts if they find other ways to sell energy more expensively.

“We are monitoring what is happening on the energy market. We have an open investigation against PPC, the former Enel, on suspicion that the supplier made it difficult for customers to move to Hidroelectrica, we are also looking at other suppliers for this type of practice.

But the bulk of the problems in the energy market come from regulation,” Chirițoiu said in a press conference.

He argued that he had conveyed to the Government the Competition Council’s point of view on whether or not to extend the price cap measure. “The market must be able to function normally, without this intervention, which was necessary during the crisis in 2021-2022. The shock has passed now, prices are no longer so high and are stabilized at the European level, and in our market the exceptional measures must be withdrawn,” the Council Head said.

“However, first of all, the situation on the balancing market must be improved, where we have seen that there have been persistent problems since the summer. Secondly, vulnerable consumers must be defined, but we must also look at the impact on the industry. Thirdly, on the electricity market you can do things today that you cannot do on the exchange, for example, you can sell electricity that you do not have, no one checks you if you sell some MW for which you do not have a contract”, Chirițoiu argued.
He recalled that there have been situations when suppliers have terminated some contracts in order to sell energy more expensively on other markets and have left customers in the dark.We should not allow this anymore. Either you have most of what you sell, or you pay penalties”, the president of the Competition Council also said.
Bogdan ChiritoiuCompetition Councilenergy marketliberalizedpricerules
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