According to an analysis by hotnews.ro, Romania has become the European leader in terms of the ratio of electricity prices to the purchasing power of the population. This is despite the country’s own and diverse energy sources: natural gas, hydropower, nuclear energy and renewable sources. One of the reasons is that taxes and tariffs for transportation and distribution account for half of the cost of electricity, the publication notes, citing a study by the Association for Intelligent Energy (AEI).
Having analyzed electricity prices including all taxes in EU countries for household consumers in July 2025, AEI analysts concluded that Romania ranks 1st among European countries in terms of purchasing power.
In addition, the country recorded the highest electricity price increase between June and July 2025, which is more than double the next highest price increase in Europe (Romania ranks 10th in July 2025 for residential electricity prices unrelated to purchasing power).
This situation is due to several reasons, the publication notes:
– electricity prices in Romania depend on the situation on the general European market, where prices may increase depending on supply and fossil fuel prices;
– taxes and transmission/distribution tariffs account for half of the final electricity bill, which is extremely high compared to European countries;
– lack of investment in infrastructure: old networks, technological losses and maintenance costs are reflected in the final price;
– speculation and market volatility: market liberalization, unprepared consumers and lack of institutions to sanction deviations from market trends have led to significant price fluctuations;
– energy transition: investments in clean sources, storage, new grids, etc., while necessary, require high initial costs that are gradually recovered through higher tariffs.
As a result, high energy prices hamper economic development, generate inflation and may increase labor migration, while the lack of protection measures for vulnerable consumers may lead to an increase in “energy poverty”, especially in rural areas, hotnews.ro notes.
