Market regulator agrees to double price of district heating in Bucharest

Romanian market regulator ANRE approved the request for doubling the price charged by the municipal heating producer Termoenergetica for the heating delivered by the state-owned company Elcen and distributed to households of Bucharest.

The end-user price was set at RON 980 per Gcal - double the RON 490 charged last year and in the first months of this winter season, Wall-street.ro reported. However, the City Council must approve the end-user price, and traditionally, the municipality covers roughly two-thirds of the heating bill.

At least a third of the bill accounts for the technical losses incurred by Termoenergetica because of the battered system of pipes that need urgent repair. However, it is unclear how much of the massive bill agreed by ANRE as reflecting the costs incurred by the two companies will Bucharest municipality be able to cover this year.

In the months so far, the households were charged a price of RON 163 per Gcal - a mere 15% of the actual cost.

Indeed, their heating bills were close to those of the apartments using natural gas and individual boilers to heat.

What actually happens is that the cost of the technological losses incurred by Termoenergetica surged in line with the price of natural gas, and it is not sure that Bucharest municipality can afford to keep alive the district heating system that is collapsing.

(Photo source: Matthias Lindner/Dreamstime.com)