Prices for electricity and natural gas are capped in this cold season, ie between November 2021 and March 2022, for domestic customers, hospitals, nurseries and public or private kindergartens, non-governmental organizations, churches and other categories of consumers, according to a law now several days.
Specifically, one of the measures contained in Law 259/2021, published on Friday and aimed at amending and supplementing the provisions on the mechanism for offsetting electricity and gas bills, introduced by EMERGENCY ORDINANCE 118/2021, establishes the capping of electricity and natural gas prices for May many categories of consumers.
The categories of final customers for which the price of electricity or natural gas is capped during the cold season, ie between November 1, 2021 and March 31, 2022 and are established as follows:
- customers, as defined in article 3 point 15 and article 100 point 23 of the Law on electricity and natural gas no. 123/2012, with subsequent amendments and completions, hereinafter referred to as household customers;
- small and medium enterprises, as defined in Law no. 346/2004 on stimulating the establishment and development of small and medium enterprises, with subsequent amendments and completions, hereinafter referred to as SMEs, individual medical practices and other liberal professions, regardless of the form of organization;
- micro-enterprises, authorized natural persons, individual enterprises, family enterprises, organized according to the law;
- public and private hospitals, defined according to Law no. 95/2006 on health care reform, republished, with subsequent amendments and completions, public and private educational units, defined according to National Education Law no. 1/2011, with amendments and subsequent completions, as well as nurseries;
- non-governmental organizations regulated according to the law, as well as the cult units, as they are regulated by Law no. 489/2006 on religious freedom and the general regime of cults, republished;
- public and private providers of social services provided in the Nomenclature of social services, approved by Government Decision no. 867/2015 for the approval of the Nomenclature of social services, as well as of the framework regulations for the organization and functioning of social services, with the subsequent modifications and completions.
According to Article 2, paragraph 2 of Law no. 259/2021, the support scheme includes the following measures:
a) for domestic customers – granting a unit compensation amounting to a maximum of 0.291 lei / kWh, in the case of electricity, and amounting to a maximum of 33% of the value of the natural gas price component of the supply contract of the beneficiary customer, in the case of gas natural, under the conditions provided in this emergency ordinance;
b) for all economic operators, final customers, from the categories provided in letters b) and c), mentioned above, for each place of consumption:
– exemption, in case of electricity, from the payment of the regulated tariffs, respectively the tariff for introduction / extraction from the network, the distribution tariff, the system services tariff, the transmission tariff, as well as from the payment of green certificates, the contribution for cogeneration high efficiency and excise;
- exemption, in the case of natural gas, from the payment of the equivalent value of the transport cost, the distribution tariff and the excise duty.
The value of the compensation provided for in paragraph (2) letter a) may be updated by a decision of the Government, at the proposal of the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, at least 5 working days before the application period.
The value in lei of the compensation for a place of consumption is determined as the product between the unit value of the compensation provided in paragraph (2) letter a) and the billed consumption related to the period of granting the compensation, if it is less than or equal to the reference consumption, and applies in each invoice issued to household customers by suppliers of electricity and natural gas for consumption from November 1, 2021 – March 31, 2022.
The reference consumption for a place of consumption is determined as a product between the daily reference consumption and the number of days in the billing period. The daily reference consumption for each month from November 2021 to March 2022 is provided in the annex which is an integral part of this emergency ordinance.
Household customers, beneficiaries of financial aid for vulnerable energy consumers, granted under Law no. 226/2021 on establishing social protection measures for vulnerable energy consumers, if the compensation provided by this emergency ordinance is greater than the value the aid granted to vulnerable consumers based on the provisions of articles 7 and 25 of Law no. 226/2021, benefit from the compensation provided in paragraph (2) letter a) calculated as the difference between the compensation provided in the annex and the level of aid granted for the same household customer as a vulnerable consumer.
The compensation of the vulnerable consumer is made in compliance with the maximum consumption limits provided in article 3 and in the annex.
The maximum consumption limit for the period of application of this emergency ordinance, for customers referred to in Article 1 (1) (a) – household customers, is:
- a) 1,500 kWh of electricity, allocated in monthly installments, according to the annex;
- b) the equivalent in kWh of 1,000 m3 of natural gas at a conversion factor of 10.6 kWh per m3, allocated in monthly installments, according to the annex.
Within the limits provided above, a deviation in favor of the beneficiary of the compensation provided for in Article 1 paragraph (2) letter a) – household customers – of maximum 10% is accepted.
In order to benefit from the compensation provided for in Article 1 (2) (a), the electricity / natural gas consumption of household customers during the billing period may not be less than 1 kWh per day of electricity during the billing period, respectively 7 kWh per day of natural gas and shall not exceed the reference consumption determined in accordance with Article 1 (5).
The compensation granted to household customers, provided in paragraph 2 letter a), as well as the elements exempted from payment provided in paragraph 2 letter b) – SMEs – will be highlighted separately with the sign «minus» in the invoices / annexes to the issued invoices by the electricity / natural gas supplier.
The support scheme also applies in the case of condominiums with central heating having as fuel the natural gas and which have a single point of consumption that serves the residential spaces in the condominium. In this case, the support scheme is applied in the invoices issued to the association of owners / tenants for the natural gas consumption of the condominium.
For the calculation of the compensation provided in paragraph (2) letter a), in the case of condominiums, the daily reference consumption is determined as a product between the daily reference consumption provided in the annex and the number of residential spaces that are part of the condominium.
The reference price of electricity is 0.68 lei / kWh and includes regulated tariffs for network services, the contribution for high efficiency cogeneration, the value of green certificates, excise and VAT, applicable on October 30, 2021.
The reference price of natural gas is 125 lei / MWh and does not include VAT, regulated taxes and tariffs, storage tariffs, as well as excise duties, applicable on October 30, 2021.
By applying the compensations provided for in paragraph (2) (a), the final price paid by the household customer for the supply of electricity / natural gas may not fall below the reference price previously established.
In order to benefit from compensation, the representative of the condominium administration or the owners of the condominium will / will submit monthly to the natural gas supplier the way of distribution of the total consumption and the consumption corresponding to each household client within the condominium.
During the application of the provisions of this emergency ordinance, the prices for electricity and natural gas shall be capped, for the final customers provided in Article 1 paragraph (1) letters a), d), e) and f) – domestic customers, public and private hospitals, ONGs, public and private social service providers – as follows:
- the final invoiced price of electricity is capped at a maximum of 1 lei / kWh, of which the price component of electricity will be worth a maximum of 0.525 lei / kWh;
- the final invoiced price of natural gas is capped at a maximum of 0.37 lei / kWh, of which the price component of natural gas will be worth a maximum of 0.250 lei / kWh.
The previously provided ceilings represent the final invoiced price for the final customer, including:
- for electricity – the price component of electricity, excise, regulated transmission and distribution tariffs, system services, green certificates, high energy efficiency cogeneration contribution, supply costs and value added tax (VAT);
- for natural gas – the selling price of natural gas, the transport cost, the storage tariff, the excise duty, the distribution tariff, the supply costs and the VAT.
The difference between the average price from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022 and the maximum ceiling of 250 lei / MWh, representing the price of natural gas, will be compensated from the state budget, through the budget of the Ministry of Energy, from a separate budget expenditure position.
The difference between the average price from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022 and the maximum ceiling of 525 lei / MWh, representing the price of active electricity, will be offset from the state budget, through the budget of the Ministry of Energy, from a separate budget expenditure position.
The supporting documents that must be submitted by the suppliers of electricity and natural gas in order to cover the compensated price difference are:
- supporting documents regarding the quantity of electricity / natural gas purchased in order to cover the consumption of the domestic clients in the portfolio for the period of application of the provisions of the present emergency ordinance, as well as its price;
- supporting documents regarding the percentage of the quantity of electricity / natural gas purchased for the entire period of application of this emergency ordinance from the total consumption of customers in the portfolio between April 1, 2021 and March 31, 2022.
The difference between the average price from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022 and the maximum ceiling of 525 lei / MWh, representing the price of active electricity, will be compensated from the state budget, through the budget of the Ministry of Energy, from a distinct position budget expenditures.
The calculation regarding the price differences previously provided shall be performed by the National Energy Regulatory Authority within 30 days from the date of submission by the suppliers of the supporting documents.
In addition, Law 259/2021 establishes the possibility of suspending the payment of electricity and gas bills for up to six months for vulnerable consumers and compensating the bills in the case of blocks with central heating on natural gas.
Legal basis:
– Law 259/2021 for the approval of the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 118/2021 regarding the establishment of a compensation scheme for the consumption of electricity and natural gas for the cold season 2021-2022, as well as for the completion of the Government Ordinance no. 27/1996 regarding the granting of facilities to the persons residing or working in some localities from the Apuseni Mountains and in the Biosphere Reserve “Danube Delta”;
– Emergency Ordinance 118/2021 regarding the establishment of a compensation scheme for the consumption of electricity and natural gas for the cold season 2021-2022, as well as for the completion of the Government Ordinance no. 27/1996 regarding the granting of facilities to the persons residing or working in some localities from the Apuseni Mountains and in the Biosphere Reserve “Danube Delta”.