“Romania’s energy strategy puts too much weight on production, when we should transfer some responsibility to suppliers and distributors as well. Electricity suppliers are the ones interacting with the consumers, so they should show more flexibility and be more attentive towards them,” Emil Calota, a vice-president with ANRE, said at the launch of the Romanian Association for Energy Efficiency Promotion, or ARPEE.
The Association includes major players on the local energy market, such as OMV Petrom (SNP.RO), GDF Suez Romania, ABB, Alstom, Energobit Group etc, as well as consultancy firm PwC Romania.
ARPEE members posted an aggregate turnover of EUR6.7 billion in 2011.
According to ARPEE data, Romania requires twice-and-a-half more energy to produce one unit of gross domestic product compared with the European Union average. The country has pledged to cut its final energy consumption by 20% between 2005 and 2020.
However, this requires substantial investments, ARPEE said.