Romania's North-East Region experiences the highest incidence of extreme energy poverty, with 30.9% of households unable to cover their consumption needs due to financial constraints, compared to the national average of 20%, reveals the annual report prepared by the Romanian Energy Poverty Observatory (ORSE) for 2024.

According to the cited document, energy poverty remains a major issue in Romania, affecting a significant segment of the population, despite a slight decrease in the number of households that allocate over 10% of their monthly budget to energy (from 37.3% in 2021 to 34% in 2023). Also, the pressure of energy bills is increasingly affecting households in the middle class and even in higher income categories.

The Low Income High Costs (LIHC) indicator, which reflects the fall below the poverty line after paying bills, remains at around 10%.

The ORSE report shows that approximately 20% of households record energy underconsumption (below half the national median), a sign of extreme poverty, and a similar percentage records overconsumption (in excess of the national median), associated with housing inefficiency or high comfort expectations.

By region, Romania's northeast is the most affected in terms of extreme energy poverty, as 30.8% of households cannot afford to cover their consumption needs and refrain from energy use due to financial constraints.

The levels recorded in the other regions are: South-East - 19.1%, South-Muntenia (19.2%), South-West Oltenia (29.4%), West (11.4%), North-West (14.9%), Center (18%) and Bucharest-Ilfov (8.8%).

Also, the burden of energy costs on the overall household budget, standing at more than 10% of income, is much higher in the South-East (35.7%), South-Muntenia (38.8%) and West (40%) regions than in the other areas. The latter two are characterized by excessive urban consumption caused by inefficient housing infrastructure.

In the view of ORSE experts, in order to prevent and combat energy poverty, proven measures are needed such as building refurbishment to reduce energy losses, easier access to green energy sources, better coordination between the authorities, and financial support directed to those who really need it. 'It is important that these solutions are applied consistently and adjusted to the needs of each community, with an emphasis on the early identification of risk situations,' the cited source states.

ORSE is a project initiated by the Center for the Study of Democracy, a think-tank established in 2006 within the Political Sciences Department of the Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences of the 'Babes-Bolyai' University in Cluj, where it operates as an accredited research center. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Daniel Badea; EN - writing by: Simona Klodnischi)