Gov’t adopts new electricity and gas caps, enforceable as of 1 April

On Friday, the government adopted the Emergency Ordinance establishing the measures applicable to final customers in the electricity and natural gas market for one year, starting with April 1.

According to the ordinance, natural gas producers will be obliged to sell at a price set by the Government the quantities of gas resulting from the current domestic production activity to the suppliers of domestic customers and heat producers or directly to them.

“Romanians will have the support of the Government to pay energy bills for another year! The new measures, which come into force on April 1, benefit 8 million households from electricity, and all connected households from natural gas, regardless of consumption “, the Minister of Energy, Virgil Popescu posted on Facebook.

Thus, for the consumption realized between April 1, 2022 – March 31, 2023, the final price invoiced by the electricity suppliers / electricity distribution operators that ensure the resale of electricity is:

• maximum 0.68 lei / kWh, VAT included, in the case of household customers whose average monthly consumption is less than or equal to 100 KWh
• maximum 0.8 lei / kWh, VAT included, in the case of domestic customers whose average monthly consumption is between 100 kWh and 300 KWh inclusive
• maximum 1 lei / kWh, VAT included, for non-household customers.

For the consumption realized between April 1, 2022 – March 31, 2023, the final price invoiced by the natural gas suppliers is:

• maximum 0.31 lei / kWh, VAT included, in the case of household customers
• maximum 0.37 lei / kWh, VAT included, in the case of non-household customers whose annual natural gas consumption achieved in 2021 at the place of consumption is at most 50,000 MWh.

At the same time, natural gas producers will be compelled to sell at a price set by the Government the quantities of gas resulting from the current domestic production activity to the suppliers of domestic customers and heat producers or directly to them.

“During April 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023, natural gas producers who carry out both onshore and / or offshore extraction activities, regardless of the date of commencement of this activity, and natural gas sales activities, have the obligation to sell at the price of 150 lei / MWh the necessary quantities of natural gas resulting from the current domestic production activity, to the domestic customers’ suppliers in order to ensure, between April 1, 2022 – March 31, 2023, the consumption needs of the domestic customers from the current production and underground storage depots of natural gas established according to Annex no. 5 ”, according to GEO.

For the sale of natural gas to the suppliers of thermal energy producers or directly to the thermal energy producers, the established price is 250 lei / MWh.

Natural gas suppliers will have the obligation, between April 1 and October 31, 2022, to establish in the underground natural gas storage facilities a minimum stock of natural gas to ensure continuity and safety in the supply of its final customers and to enable an affordable price for consumers.

The ordinance maintains the measure of taxation with 80% of the additional income generated by the electricity producers, except for the production capacities put into operation after the date of entry into force of this normative act. This measure was introduced in November last year for electricity producers and in previous years for natural gas producers.

The normative act stipulates that all the quantities of electricity that will be sold by the electricity producers in the Romanian state’s portfolio and the holders of oil agreements that produce electricity will not be taken into account when calculating the additional income.