Bucharest municipality to decide on district heating price within a week

Bucharest municipality will decide how much of the heating price charged by Elcen will be subsidised from its own budget and how much the end-user price paid by households will increase after the energy market regulator approves the regulated price to be charged by Elcen.

A sharp increase of roughly 67% is envisaged if the municipality keeps the subsidy at the same level as last winter.

While not indicating a precise figure, Elcen said that the regulated price would increase significantly if ANRE approves its request. Natural gas account for some 75%-80% of the cost of the heating, and the CO2 certificates account for some 15% of the cost as well - Elcen officials said, quoted by Hotnews.ro, explaining why the heating price is supposed to rise.

In an interview in late September, mayor Nicusor Dan said that the price of heating would increase by some 20% to about RON 600 per Gcal - from RON 490 per Gcal.

Out of the cost before the rise, the municipality covers more than half, and the households pay only RON 164 per Gcal.

(Photo source: Matthias Lindner/Dreamstime.com)