ANRE representative on increased energy bills: Romanians „will receive fish” from April 1, but come 2023 „they should learn to fish”/ Nagy-Bege: „We can’t even imagine how much waste there is at the moment”

Energy consumers will receive support from the state budget from April 1, come next year they should reduce their bills themselves through energy efficiency measures, Zoltan Nagy-Bege, vice-president of the National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE), said at a conference on Thursday.

„I am convinced that this energy crisis will increase the concerns and investments in energy efficiency. The high price will make consumers think about energy efficiency measures, but there must also be a concern and an effort on the part of state institutions to inform and raise awareness of the importance of this measure among all consumers, from households to the largest non-household consumers. We cannot even imagine how much waste there is at the moment. I have also been criticized for saying that energy has been far too cheap for there to be concern among some consumers about efficiency measures. Here we are at the point where the price has increased 2-3 times in less than a year and it is possible that energy efficiency will take on a whole new dimension”, said Bege at the conference „Energy, present and future”, organized by the Association of Romanian Energy Suppliers.

„Just by changing certain behaviors, by eliminating this waste, we can already achieve some consumption savings on bills, because any reduction in consumption will be reflected in the bill, in CO2 emissions, in reduced dependence on imports and in prices if demand falls”, he pointed out.

As for the measures from April 1, the ANRE official said that a final decision is taking shape, but there are still small issues to be discussed at the executive level.

„I think this week the government will make a decision. I won’t give details, because it’s not my role to announce anything, but, having said that, we have to find quickly some solutions that will have medium or long term effects, through which we can solve the problem of dependence on gas and energy imports and through that, we can contribute to reducing Europe’s dependence on energy imports. Let’s come up with investments not only in production,” Bege said.

Romania aims to build at least 6.9 GW of renewable energy by 2030, but with a well-thought-out legislative framework we can reach 10-12 GW of new renewable capacity by 2030, he says.

„I think it is also the case that investments in energy efficiency should be stimulated. The market, domestic and non-household consumers, stimulated by price increases, will go in this direction, and I think that it is also necessary to stimulate these investments from budgetary sources. It’s the same story of ‘give fish to the masses or teach them to fish’. In the short term, we must give them fish, from 1 April, so that they have something to eat, but perhaps by 2023 they should learn to fish”, concluded the ANRE representative.

Edited for English