Romanian electricity supplier PPC Energie reported that 5,000 household customers shifted approximately 125 MWh of electricity use into designated periods during a four-month pilot. The results, disclosed on October 30, show how smart meters, digital notifications and retail price incentives can support demand flexibility without conventional energy-storage installations. PPC said the trial demonstrated that customers could be encouraged to shift their electricity consumption through targeted pricing.
Under the Energie Electrică Activă Zero programme, participating households paid zero for the active-energy component during selected daytime hours from June to September 2026. Network charges, taxes and other regulated components of their bills remained payable. During qualifying periods, participants consumed 809 MWh across 312 hours on 52 days.
PPC estimates that approximately 125 MWh of that consumption was moved from other times, principally evenings and overnight, into the incentivised periods. The estimated average financial benefit was approximately €27 per customer over the four-month programme. The results point to a potential business model for Southeast European suppliers using smart-meter data and retail offers to influence demand profiles and reduce electricity supply costs.
Advance price signals shifted household consumption
The programme was open to customers with smart meters connected to Romania’s intelligent metering infrastructure. PPC notified participants of qualifying periods at least 12 hours in advance through email and its myPPC application. The zero price applied to the active-energy component and was intended to encourage customers to move flexible household activities into those hours.
Eligible customers registered in May, and all 5,000 places were filled within five days. The rapid take-up indicated interest in differentiated electricity tariffs, although joining was voluntary and participants were not necessarily representative of the wider residential market. PPC assessed the programme by comparing participants’ hourly consumption profiles with those of eligible customers who did not join.
On qualifying days, participants used approximately 40% of their daily electricity between 10:00 and 17:00, compared with an estimated 34% without the incentive. At some midday hours, their consumption was as much as 26% above the estimated comparison profile. The findings indicate that some household demand can respond to commercial incentives without suppliers automatically controlling appliances.
PPC attributes approximately 125 MWh of demand shifting to the programme. This is an estimated change in when electricity was consumed, not a reduction of 125 MWh in total demand. The pilot therefore measured a shift in consumption timing rather than an equivalent decrease in electricity use.
Smart meters support retail flexibility
The pilot’s relevance extends beyond the promotional tariff. Smart meters have traditionally been used to improve billing accuracy, enable remote readings and provide better network information. PPC’s programme also demonstrated how suppliers could use measured hourly consumption to design retail offers and assess whether customers change their behaviour.
This function could be valuable to suppliers when wholesale procurement costs vary significantly between hours. Encouraging customers to use more electricity during lower-cost procurement periods may improve a supplier’s portfolio economics, provided the savings exceed the costs of incentives, implementation and the additional electricity consumed. Possible developments include dynamic retail tariffs, targeted consumption discounts, customer-management applications and automated control of suitable household equipment.
Electric water heating, air conditioning, washing appliances and electric vehicle charging are examples of loads that can sometimes be rescheduled. However, PPC’s programme did not establish that its results came from automated appliance control. Nor did it show that participants were remunerated as qualified balancing-market resources.
The initiative remains a supplier-led retail flexibility programme, rather than a conventional virtual power plant or a formally dispatched balancing service. PPC also surveyed 1,469 participants after the programme. Of respondents, 94% said they had shifted or postponed appliance use at least occasionally to take advantage of the zero-active-energy periods.
Survey results and commercial considerations
Approximately 95% of survey respondents considered the programme successful, while 92% said the notifications arrived early enough for them to adjust their consumption. These responses support PPC’s consumption analysis, but the survey covered respondents rather than every participant. It was not an independent evaluation.
The results indicate a broader opportunity for suppliers to engage customers and make commercial use of consumption data. Rather than competing only on fixed electricity prices, suppliers could offer financial incentives for predictable demand changes. A company with a sufficiently large portfolio may be able to influence its aggregate electricity purchases and potentially reduce exposure to high-cost procurement periods.
Whether these benefits can be measured consistently and translated into sustainable margins remains a key issue. PPC has not disclosed a full financial assessment covering procurement savings, implementation costs, customer-acquisition expenses and net profitability. The average household saving therefore cannot be treated as equivalent to either supplier profit or a saving for the electricity system.
Relevance to Serbia and the Western Balkans
The Romanian experience is relevant to Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Croatia and Hungary, where wider smart-meter deployment could support more advanced electricity-retail services. In Serbia, the commercial opportunity would involve combining advanced metering and digital customer communication with offers that encourage households and businesses to manage consumption in response to system conditions. Potentially relevant participants include electricity suppliers, distribution companies, technology providers and industrial energy-service businesses.
Retail flexibility depends on more than meter installation. Suppliers need access to reliable interval data, appropriate customer consent, compatible billing systems and commercial arrangements that ensure consumption incentives are accurately reflected in bills. Regulation must also address consumer protection, transparency and the treatment of customers who cannot shift their electricity use.
In Montenegro and other smaller Western Balkan markets, pilot programmes could test whether flexible retail products are commercially viable before wider implementation. PPC’s trial illustrates a developing change in electricity retailing: suppliers can offer incentives for customers to use electricity when demand has greater value within the supplier’s procurement portfolio. The model combines smart-meter infrastructure, consumption analytics, digital customer communication and retail price incentives.
The Romanian results provide measured evidence that some households are willing and able to respond. The commercial challenge is to establish whether that behaviour can be sustained at greater scale and whether procurement savings can fund attractive customer incentives. If successful, demand shifting could develop into a distinct retail energy service across Southeast Europe, creating value from the timing of consumption rather than from additional generation capacity.
