Romania's Social Democratic Party (PSD) drafted a bill aimed at capping the energy (electricity, natural gas) end-user prices for the residential consumers, and the National Liberal Party (PNL) agrees in principle but argues that key amendments are necessary.

Under the draft sketched by PSD, the energy prices would be capped at the January - September average for a period of six months, local Adevarul reported.

The energy supplier will be compensated for the losses incurred from a Fund financed from a 50% tax levied on electricity and natural gas producers' profit and the public budget.

Acting minister of energy Virgil Popescu argued that the state aid scheme must be first notified to the European Commission, and the energy market regulator ANRE should closely monitor the entire mechanism, according to Adevarul. Provisions aimed at compelling the supplier to purchase energy at the lowest possible price from the market (and thus ask for the smallest possible state aid) should be included in the model. 

andrei@romania-insider.com

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