Martian jokes on the price of energy. The ANRE chief, paid for 15,000 euros, ironizes concerns about the energy sector
From recent Critics of the President of RomaniaUntil the requests of the Minister of Energy and statements of the management of OMV Petrom, there is today, in Romania, a worrying convergence of alarm signals regarding the future of the energy system: the risk of blackout, too high prices, structural imbalances, lack of investments, suspicious invoices. What does ANRE do, the key institution with regulatory role in energy, when the accusatory eyes are going on it?
Authority adopts a passive position, minimizing these warnings, avoiding detailed public analyzes, postponing transparency.
Moreover, George Niculescu, the president of the institution, responds with the irony, deriving the warnings and criticisms launched lately, from several areas.
“Martians can and they come in a near future.”
“We do not pay the highest price for electricity in the world, neither in Europe, nor in the galaxy. To be very clear, I do not think we will have an imminent blackout (major current). The aliens, ”said Niculescu, at a conference organized by profit.
At the same conference, Franck Neel, director of OMV Petrom, warned that Romania is still close to the risk of a blackout, and the energy market is currently operating in imbalance.
The director of the national energy dispatcher (DNA) Transelectrica, Virgiliu Ivan, also warned that Romania risks not being able to cover the electricity consumption in the winter that follows and not only, even if it mobilizes the internal resources available and appeals to imports.
Critics and from the President and the Minister of Energy
A few days before these statements, the Minister of Energy, Bogdan Ivan, has requested investigations at the National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE), because it has found distortions in the market and that energy traders have three times higher than in the other European states.
It was almost no public exit in which the minister does not remember too high energy prices. “Romania pays one of the highest energy prices in the world,” says the minister.
The President of Romania Nicușor Dan was more sharp and accused Direct ANRE of not doing his job. Nicușor Dan said that “all the money in this price goes to some speculators.” “Because the mechanisms that should not allow these speculators than to have reasonable profits in a market economy, the mechanisms are managed from ANRE who do not do their job,” said Nicușor Dan.
Critics at ANRE also launched the former Minister of Energy Răzvan Nicolescu. “The energy market needs reforms and an active and efficient ANRE. We have the biggest price differences between Europe and the peak,” said the former minister.
“The management of ANRE is only on Facebook and communicates banalities, including the choice of Acer (a function without relevance because only the president only counts), where the designation is done on the principle of rotation. Energy regulation.
The 2024 report was not published
The activity in ANRE seems to be inversely proportional to the level of wages, which are among the largest in the EU. The average salary is 3,700 euros/ month, more than three times higher than the national average, and the boss receives 15,000 euros. In such salaries, the expectation of a high level of performance is absolutely justified.
Despite the huge need for explanations and concrete actions, ANRE has not presented any analysis to justify the increase of prices, what parts of the system are responsible and what additional costs the increases support. It does not investigate, does not analyze, does not show signs that it watches over the correctness of the market and that it monitors the prices.
ANRE has not published any detailed public report on the procurement terms, the costs from the producer to the consumer or the way the imports affect the final price.
We do not know which component comes from the network, what from distribution, what of taxes, what from the costs of purchase, what from imports, what from fiscal policies.
We do not see a clear positioning on investments in storage, in balancing the energy system, in crisis resilience.
ANRE did not come up with clear data to hold statements such as “it is not an imminent risk”. Irony cannot replace an updated investigation or report.
Even the report for 2024 was not published, although we have little and we pass in 2026.
The questions to which ANRE must answer
There are many questions that ANRE's answers are missing.
Why do prices vary so much between regions? Why are the importing energy imports so great? How were the costs of the network calculated? What is the concrete scenario of the risk of blackout accepted by ANRE? Are there simulations / projections? What are the terms, probabilities, regions targeted? In the context of warnings, prepares a crisis plan? What are the critical sectors, how to ensure the continuity of the essential services? What does ANRE do effectively to increase the energy storage capacity, to improve the network, to prevent crisis situations? How does ANRE check the billing practice: estimates, regularization, discounts, information for consumers, transparency? To what extent the messages in the public space that warn are exaggerated and to what extent are they founded warnings?
High energy prices affect household bills, economy competitiveness, industry, exports. If it is not clear what generates these costs, expensive purchases, losses, distribution costs, taxes, there is no basis for efficiency or realistic regulations.
If there are serious warnings from important players, ANRE can not only reject alarmist speeches ironically, but must respond concretely: with data, plans, preventive actions.
Then, admission of risks does not mean panic, but preparation.
In this context, it should be mentioned that the heads of ANRE, president, vice -presidents, members of the regulatory committee, are appointed only on political criteria, not of competence.
