Romania’s Energy Ministry opened consultation on November 4 on an emergency ordinance that would allow Transelectrica and electricity distribution companies to appoint a common buyer for power covering up to 70% of participating operators’ technical network consumption and losses. Eligible procurement costs could be recognised in regulated network charges, subject to conditions set by ANRE.
The arrangement would be voluntary, and operators would not have to pool all their purchases. The proposed buyer could procure power on wholesale markets, including through directly negotiated, longer-term bilateral contracts.
ANRE, Romania’s energy regulator, would set the conditions for recognising eligible costs in regulated transmission and distribution charges. The draft does not identify any transmission or distribution operator that has agreed to participate.
Transelectrica is Romania’s transmission system operator and is among those that could appoint a buyer. The country’s main licensed distribution groups include Distributie Energie Electrica Romania, Retele Electrice Romania, Distributie Energie Oltenia and Delgaz Grid.
Procurement and tariff considerations
Electricity used to operate substations and power lost as it moves through wires are unavoidable network costs. Their prices can fluctuate with wholesale markets, while the quantity depends on demand patterns, network topology and technical performance, making procurement both a trading issue and a question of regulated revenue.
Pooling separate demand portfolios could create larger contracts, improve negotiating leverage and make purchasing schedules more predictable. A larger purchasing scale would not by itself guarantee lower costs: outcomes would depend on price indexing, contract duration, portfolio shape, collateral and the ability to adjust purchases when actual losses differ from forecasts.
A common buyer could offer generators and wholesale suppliers larger offtake opportunities while concentrating procurement decisions among fewer counterparties. Operators that buy most of their loss energy on short-term markets are exposed to price surges, while longer-term purchases could smooth procurement prices.
Longer-term buying could also leave operators with losses if contracted power is more expensive than spot-market electricity. If efficiency investment reduces grid losses, operators could become over-hedged.
The draft envisages operating procedures being prepared and submitted for ANRE review, with preparation due by May 31, 2027. It does not specify a separate deadline for submission.
Subsequent tariff rules will determine which costs can be recovered, whether incentives to reduce losses remain in place, and who bears the consequences of procurement errors or counterparty defaults. Lenders and shareholders will seek clarity on those issues.
Transmission and distribution operators in Serbia, Montenegro and other Western Balkan markets face related questions about buying electricity for technical losses. Romania’s proposal could provide a regional model, but adoption elsewhere would require separate regulatory decisions; its value will depend on whether collective procurement improves hedging and tariff predictability without weakening competition or incentives to cut losses.
