Energy suppliers say they are not to blame for increasing bills / Who receives the big money

People's dissatisfaction with the price of energy are unjustifiably heading to suppliers, because their names appear on invoices, but suppliers only issue the invoice, they do not make the price, Volker Raffel, the president of the Federation of Energy Utility Companies Associations (ACUE) and the general manager of E.ON Romania.

“Unfortunately, including from the political environment, we have seen various statements that incorrectly encourage this perception and transform suppliers into 'scapegoat' to increase invoices. Therefore, I think it is worth the effort to try to clarify things: the suppliers have not increased their margin, they earn the same year ago, even if the year ago. The distributors and the state are the ones who receive the bulk of the money.

If we look at this year compared to 2019, we see that the producers have tripled their earnings. Likewise, there are increases for transport and distribution. And also the increase of the latter is strongly determined by the higher prices of the producers, because there is also a technical consumption in the networks. And above all this comes the state with its taxes and taxes. The suppliers only collect the money and give them further to them, ”Radfel said for Agerpres.

Volker Raffel: Attention to too good offers!

Referring to the ability of some suppliers to propose much more advantageous offers than those of the majority, Volker Raffel said that some can sell cheaper for a period, to attract customers and that differences come from commercial strategies (because a supplier has to have energy for customers and when it is drought, and when it is not, as well as the service).

He says that a consumer wants from his supplier a correct (lower) price, assistance, but also continuity.

“An informed consumer chooses his supplier, looking at all these criteria and is aware that the offers are too good to be true, which have nothing to do with the market, they can shortly give them a very big headache. Some can sell cheaper for a period, to attract as many customers.

Indeed, the energy produced in hydroelectric plants is cheaper, but the quantity is limited. When the request from its own power plants can no longer be covered, the difference will have to be bought from the market, at the same prices as all other suppliers. And then, the seller will have to either expensive or sell at a loss, which no one can do if he does not want to go bankrupt, ”he said.

Raffel has pointed out that a low price can hide unclear clauses or limited validity and recommend customers to read the offer carefully and choose what is safer in the long run.

Why does Romania have among the highest prices in Europe

According to Volker Raffel, there are four reasons why Romania has among the highest electricity prices in Europe, and the long -term solution would be investments in new power stations, modern networks and renewable sources, which are rewarded according to their fair value, because without investments we will not have lower invoices.

The four main reasons are:

• International context – crises have increased gas and energy;
• The fact that Romania has not built enough new power plants, and the overcapacities resulting from the decrease of industrial consumption since the 1990s have disappeared;
• The fact that we are not connected enough to the European energy network, and that means higher costs (if we do not have enough links, we are 'isolated' and we have to rely only on what we produce in the country, even if it is more expensive);
• The fact that urgent need for investments in modern networks, in distribution, is needed to better take over the energy that prosumers want to inject, but the regulatory authority still does not create the legislative framework for this to happen.