Despite a rich energy-mix of hydro, nuclear, thermal, wind and solar sectors, Romania finds itself paying among the highest electricity prices in Europe.
This seems absurd, given that the ingredients for cheap power are all present.
In early 2025 the day-ahead market (DAM) weighted average price in Romania was 506 lei / MWh (≈ €103.5/MWh) — placing the country third in the EU in spot electricity cost, reports Romania Insider.
For households, the average price for December 2024 was around €0.19/kWh.
By comparison, the average household electricity price across the EU in the second half of 2024 was about €0.287/kWh.
But if Romania’s nominal price is slightly lower than that of its peers, purchasing power and incomes makes it painful.Average salaries in Romania are far lower than in Western Europe. For instance, average gross monthly earnings in November 2024 were about 8,825 lei (≈ €1,790) in Romania. Meanwhile, in Norway the average monthly gross salary is around NOK 56,360 (≈ €5,100) in 2024. These are gross salaries, and taxes in Romania get steeper at a fast pace. That means that the price, particularly in a cold climate like that of Romania, is heavier to this country’s citizens than others in Europe.
There are several key structural and market-factors that explain the paradox.
Romania’s power grid and interconnection to Western markets remain weaker than in many Western European countries, which limits flexibility and ability to import cheaper power or exploit surplus generation. And while Romania has renewable sources, it still lacks sufficient storage (of a battery / pumped-hydro variety) and flexible capacity to fully harness variable renewables. That raises system costs.
Some say that everything lies with “middle-man” companies and market margins, as analysts point fingers towards energy-reselling firms that purchase wholesale power and sell it on to end-users at prices that most benefit their own profit.
Moreover, although Romania extracts a large portion of its own gas, the linkages to broader Western European markets (e.g., pipeline integration) remain weaker, meaning less bargaining power and fewer alternative supply routes. All over Europe, gas is connected to Austria via the BRUA pipeline — but countries like Romania have relationships and links to their neighbors, not Western Europe.
Large industrial consumers in Romania pay around €192/MWh, compared to the European average of around €113/MWh, informs Romania Insider. This industrial competiveness has knock-on effects for jobs, exports and investment.
So why are we paying so much?
Because having the raw resources is one thing; having a market, infrastructure and governance structure that turns them into cheap reliable power is quite another, and it is here that Romania lags.
Corruption, regulatory uncertainty, complex intermediaries and outdated infrastructure keeps costs high. Storage and transmission, too, remain under-invested.
Romania can boast that it has the whole energy buffet, and everyone knows it. But consumers still pay a bigger price and have a lower standard of living than their European peers. If you pay almost as much as someone in a richer country did for the same kilowatt-hour, but your salary is one-fifth or one-sixth of theirs, the market remains far from fair, despre integration into European structures. In other words, you produce almost everything, yet you pay like you produce nothing.
