Out of a total of 8.74 million households nearly 4.6 million households in Romania can be defined as vulnerable energy consumers since they consume less than 55 kWh per month, according to The National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE).
These figures point to low ownership rates of even basic appliances among Romanian households. However, figures might not be relevant in the context of the vulnerable energy consumer Law that the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Energy are working on. According to a draft, the Law defines vulnerable energy consumers are those who have incomes below a certain level or are located in remote areas.
Households whose electricity consumption is below a certain threshold were offered a preferential social electricity supply contracts. However, it is unclear what will happen to them after the market liberalization on 1 January.
Minister of Energy Virgil Popescu said earlier this week that the draft law which defines the vulnerable energy consumer will be approved as soon as possible, adding that the consumers who really need it will be subsidized.
