Electricity tariffs in Romania: PZU prices, smart hours and your bill

Is running the washing machine at midday cheaper in Romania? It depends on your contract. A fixed energy price, a price linked to the day-ahead market and a schedule of discounted hours can reward different habits. Start with the formula on your offer, not the cheapest bar on our chart.

First identify what can change in your contract

The electricity price-cap scheme under OUG 6/2025 ended on 1 July 2025. Do not use those old capped amounts as a current quotation. Check your contract and any subsequent price notice; universal service and a competitive-market offer are not the same product. Changing supplier does not change the local distribution operator. Electrica Furnizare: end of the electricity caps.

• Fixed price: the agreed energy component stays fixed for the stated period. That does not freeze every network charge or tax.
• Market-linked price: an agreed index feeds into the bill. Check whether it follows your consumption in individual intervals or a general monthly average.
• Time-of-use price: different contractual rates apply at specified hours or days. The schedule need not follow every daily market movement.

The contract term and the price-guarantee period can differ. Compare what happens after each expires. If you receive targeted financial support or have a prosumer arrangement, check those conditions separately before switching.

Smart meters, PZU and the reference that matters

ANRE describes the right to dynamic-price contracts with a suitable smart-metering system, including access through suppliers with more than 200,000 final customers. Consumers should receive information about the costs and risks. ANRE: electricity consumer rights.

Ask your distribution operator whether your meter is integrated into SMI, the smart-metering system, and whether interval readings are available for billing. A digital display is not enough to establish eligibility. Ask the supplier how missing readings are priced and when the new arrangement starts.

PZU means Piața pentru Ziua Următoare, the day-ahead market. OPCOM’s market description includes quarter-hour granularity. This does not establish the settlement interval of every household contract. OPCOM: day-ahead market operation.

For example, PPC’s PZU offer describes a monthly price weighted using the customer’s hourly consumption and hourly PZU prices, plus a supply component. A monthly invoice therefore does not necessarily mean that the time you consume is irrelevant. PPC: PZU-linked pricing.

Obtain the exact interval, reference series and averaging rule in writing. Our chart is not automatically your retail settlement series. Use Europe/Bucharest local time and account for clock changes. For a lei-based contract, use its lei reference: our informational EUR-to-RON display conversion is not a promise of the supplier’s exchange-rate method. 500 RON/MWh = RON 0.50/kWh; changing units is different from converting currencies.

Supplier examples: different conditions, not a ranking

Checked on 13 September 2026. These examples are not a complete market survey or a recommendation of the cheapest supplier. Obtain the current offer for your address; promotional prices and expired price guarantees are not reproduced here.

Keep the same location, consumption and tax basis across quotations. A cheap energy-only headline is not directly comparable with a price including network charges and VAT. Check whether a daily subscription pays for energy supply, an optional service package or both.

Worked example: consumption weighting and a daily fee

Suppose 100 kWh are consumed in intervals at RON 0.20/kWh and 150 kWh at RON 0.80/kWh. The market component is RON 20.00 + RON 120.00 = RON 140.00. The consumption-weighted reference is RON 0.56/kWh, not the simple average of RON 0.50/kWh.

This fictional 30-day example adds a RON 0.10/kWh markup and a RON 0.30/day subscription. All inputs are invented, before VAT and other bill components, and are not the terms of any supplier above. No loss multiplier is assumed.

The subtotal is RON 0.696/kWh, before network costs, levies and VAT—not a final bill. In a 31-day month, the same daily subscription is RON 9.30, not RON 9.00. A quoted daily fee must be multiplied by the actual billed days before entering it as a monthly fee.

To reproduce the example in our comparison tool, select RON, enter consumption 250, market price 0.56, markup 0.10 and monthly fee 9 for offer A. Keep the multiplier at 1, shared costs at zero and shifted consumption at zero. Enter your consumption-weighted contractual reference manually. The calculator does not automatically fetch the supplier’s settlement index, count billing days or apply Romanian taxes and time bands.

Cheaper scheduled hours are not a daily spot forecast

The reviewed PPC Ore Smart + schedule offers reduced periods throughout weekends, Monday–Friday 00:00–06:00 all year, and Monday–Friday 11:00–15:00 from March through October. The end times here are exclusive: 06:00 and 15:00 start the next period. Confirm the schedule in your own offer. PPC: time bands.

This is a supplier-specific schedule, not a national reduced-rate timetable. Our chart might show an even cheaper wholesale hour outside it without changing your agreed scheduled rate. Moving consumption between two equally priced hours gives no energy-price saving under that schedule.

For genuinely market-linked billing, use the contractual interval prices instead. In our fictional example, moving 40 kWh from RON 0.80 to RON 0.20 changes the energy subtotal by RON 24.00 before VAT, assuming the same markup and other terms. With an identical rate at both times, the difference is RON 0.00. Only shift loads where convenient and safe; essential heating, medical equipment and food safety come first.

What remains outside the energy price?

Romanian bills include regulated transport, system and distribution charges, plus items such as green certificates, cogeneration, the CfD contribution, excise and VAT. Distribution charges depend on the area and voltage level. Check whether the energy price already includes TG, the injection tariff, before adding it again. E.ON: bill components.

Use the current values for your own supply point. Do not copy another county’s all-in price, add VAT twice or treat an optional maintenance package as an unavoidable network charge. For an energy-only comparison, label the subtotal clearly; for a full-bill estimate, add each applicable component on a consistent tax basis.

A negative market price is not automatically free electricity. With the example’s markup, −RON 0.05 + RON 0.10 = RON 0.05/kWh, still positive before other costs. This assumes the contract passes through the negative reference without a floor or another adjustment. A fixed or scheduled retail price does not become negative merely because a bar on the wholesale chart does.

Before switching: use the official comparison and your own bill

ANRE directs consumers to the POSF electricity-offer comparator. Start there for a wider comparison and obtain the full contractual documents before accepting an offer. ANRE: official comparator entry point.

ANRE states that households can switch suppliers without a switching commission. That does not erase unpaid bills or settle every contractual obligation: check notice, renewal and any separate service commitments. ANRE: consumer rights.

• Have your latest bill, POD supply-point identifier, county, voltage level and annual consumption ready.
• Confirm meter eligibility, the billing interval and what happens when interval data are missing.
• Record the index, markup, subscription per day or month, guarantee period and renewal terms.
• Compare the same consumption pattern first, then a realistic shifting scenario and a high-price scenario.
• If you are a prosumer or receive assistance, check the separate conditions rather than assuming this import-only example applies unchanged.
• Check the first bill against the accepted offer, readings and number of billed days.

Our Romanian market chart explains wholesale movements. Your contract and distribution area determine how those movements affect the money you pay.