Energy suppliers have filed complaints in Bucharest and Brussels, accusing Hidroelectrica of misconduct.

At least one large electricity supplier has filed a complaint with the Competition Council and the European Commission regarding Hidroelectrica’s behavior in the supply market, Bogdan Chirițoiu said today at a press conference, answering a question on the subject.

“They complain that Hidroelectrica offers lower retail prices than the wholesale prices it charges. We had complaints last year, and I know they were also filed with the European Commission. There were discussions at the Commission, there were complaints with us as well,” Chirițoiu replied.

“Our point of view was that, as long as Hidroelectrica is small, we see its entry into the market, even with promotional prices, as a pro-competitive process, in which I have a new player, who enters the market and comes with some promotional prices, and this is not a problem as long as Hidroelectrica’s market share is small.

I am a large company, but I enter a new market, I increase competition, it is normal to come with some lower prices for a period of time.

I understand that in the meantime this market share has increased. I don’t know how long this promotion can last and what does it mean that I am small? When I am no longer small and when did the promotion last long enough?” Chirițoiu replied.

Hidroelectrica: supply has become a priority

Hidroelectrica is the largest electricity producer in Romania, but also a supplier for over 1 million household customers, won especially because it allows itself to have the lowest price in Romania, which it maintains.

In the first nine months of last year, Hidroelectrica’s net electricity production was only 8.7 TW, down 23%, given that 2025 was the worst year in the company’s history, as a result of the lack of water. On the sales side, the amount of energy sold in the energy markets decreased by 34%, to 4.5 TWh, but the amount of energy sold in supply to its own customers increased by 30%, to 5.2 TWh.

Therefore, Hidroelectrica ended up selling more to its own supply customers, than in the energy market, from where other suppliers also buy energy for their customers.

In addition, to satisfy the increasing consumption of its own customers in the face of declining production, the company had to buy even more electricity from the market, and the quantity increased massively. In the first nine months of this year, the purchase of electricity was 1.6 TWh, compared to only 666 GWh in the first nine months of last year. An increase of two and a half times.

And, also according to the data for 9 months, Hidroelectrica sold electricity to its customers cheaper (average price of 468 lei/MWh) than it sold on the market (528 lei was the average wholesale price).

Change in law that Hidroelectrica will benefit from, contested by at least one supplier

In mid-January, we wrote that a draft amendment to the energy law put into public debate by the Ministry of Energy is coming to help Hidroelectrica.

The company is obliged by the current law to sell 50% of its production in the energy markets, but the draft changes the reporting basis, meaning that “in the case of electricity producers, who also have the quality of electricity supplier, the condition of trading at least 50% of the annual electricity production through contracts on the electricity markets, other than PZUM, PI and PE, is considered to be fulfilled also through supply contracts concluded with household customers, to the extent that the energy for these contracts is transferred from its own production”.

The amendment was likely to alarm one of the other suppliers, who also complained in this case.

“We were notified by one of the suppliers regarding this draft law and we are analyzing the situation, we have not yet responded to the notification. It is the same supplier that notified us in the past regarding Hidroelectrica’s market behavior,” said Chirițoiu, who recalled that his institution will issue an opinion on this normative act, which is, however, consultative.

The Head of Competition did not provide any supplier names, explaining that he must respect confidentiality.