The price of gas for domestic use in Romania will not change until the end of March, 2013, due to a one-year extension of the price freeze from July 1, 2011 to March 31, 2012, according to Mediafax.

“For households and heat producers, only for gas used to produce heat in co-generation plants and thermal plants for household consumption, the blend of natural gas is determined by the Romanian Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE) in order to ensure, until March 31, 2013, an unchanged value of the fixed unit amount,” according to a draft order developed ANRE, Ministry of Economy and the National Agency for Mineral Resources.

The Romanian Government decided last year to freeze prices, between July 1, 2011 and March 31, 2012, for gas delivered to the population and public institutions, such as schools and hospitals. Around half of the gas consumption in Romania is represented by these customers, who pay regulated tariffs set by ANRE.

Meanwhile, Romania will give up on the regulated electricity tariffs in stages for both industrial users and individuals, and will cancel from 2013 the social tariff for poor families.

This will affect up to 1.4 million consumers who qualify for the social tariffs, from a broader group of 8.3 million electricity consumers.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com