Costs of distribution, charged by network operators to transport the energy from producers to consumers, became the most important part of the electricity price, after an increase of 15% in the past five years.
Operators’ distribution tariffs also depend on network investments. Data provided by the Romanian energy watchdog ANRE show that during the 2009-2013 period the eight distribution companies invested around EUR1.5 billion overall. However, in the account of these investments, operators cashed in around EUR2.5 billion from distribution tariffs in the five years, on the household segment alone. Despite these investments, in 2012 Romania’s energy consumers spent around 10 hours and a half in the dark.
Overall, in 2009-2014 distribution tariffs rose by around 15% for the eight companies, according to ANRE data, so that, in the end, including all the other elements such as green certificates, the final bill paid by an apartment of Bucharest, for instance, came to be 35% higher than in 2009.
Energy production weighs 29.6%, while green certificates account for 5.3% in the monthly bill of a Bucharest apartment. The rising energy bills, natural gas price liberalization or fuel excise duties introduced overnight are taking out money from people’s pockets, hampering consumption revival.
Enel Distributie Dobrogea and Electrica Distributie Transilvania Nord benefitted from the highest tariff increases in the analyzed period, by around 24%, while Czech-held CEZ had the smallest tariff hike, of below 5%, in 2009-2014 period.
According to ANRE’s latest data, in 2012 the consumers of Enel Distributie Dobrogea stayed over 5 hours in the dark, less anyway than the 10 hours of 2009. The number of hours represents the cumulated duration of unplanned blackouts in distribution networks.
Transilvania Nord clients stayed 6.2 hours in the dark in 2012, compared with 10.3 hours in 2009. The clients of E.ON Moldova, the region where the highest distribution tariff of Romania is applied, namely RON214.5 per MWh, stayed over nine hours in the dark in 2012. The consumers of Electrica Muntenia Nord in 2012 stayed 24.3 hours in the dark, an absolute national record.
In Romania, the distribution network is divided into eight areas, with five of them controlled by private investors and the rest in the hands of the state. Overall, ANRE data show over 8.9 million consumers are connected to the distribution system.
According to Enel data, in 2009 a household consumer of Bucharest paid around RON87.2 monthly for an average consumption of 200 KWh. Of this sum, RON33 went to the distribution service. Virtually, almost 40% of the entire energy bill went into the energy distributor’s accounts.
For the same energy consumption, the owner of a Bucharest apartment has to take out RON117,9 out of the pocket, 35% more than in 2009. Energy distribution now costs RON36.5 for the KWh consumed, while the energy in itself costs RON34.9.
Cogeneration and green certificates account for almost RON10 together in the entire bill. These costs were not included in the bills of 2009.
The representatives of CEZ, E.ON and Electrica did not answer ZF’s request for information.
Virtually, while most voices have lashed at the weight of green energy in bills, it is energy distribution that makes the heaviest cost category.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)