Some consumers to pay differentiated tariffs for electric energy in Moldova

Chisinau, 18 June /MOLDPRES/ - Some consumers will pay differentiated tariffs for electric energy. This will be possible, after the National Energy Regulatory Agency (ANRE) today approved the coefficients for the differentiated tariffs for electric energy, which will be applied for the end consumers within a pilot project carried out by the Energy Ministry, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Moldova and the government of Italy. Energy Minister Victor Parlicov informed that, following a period of testing, the differentiated tariffs would be able to be extended all over the country.       

Thus, the concerned consumers will pay a half of the usual price for one KW/hour between 00:00 and 06:00, the standard price for the consumption on the period 11:00-16:00 and a price increased by 1.2 coefficient on the time interval 16:00-24:00.  

The project within which the differentiated tariffs will be enforced implies the setting of smart meters for a certain type of electric energy consumers – action which is part of the national plan on digitalization of the energy sector. The end consumers will be selected by the distributors of energy, based on a sample made up according to demographic and geographic principles.    

„After a period of testing, the differentiated tariffs will be able to be extended all over the country. We work, in continuation, on the adaptation of the normative framework in this respect and setting the infrastructure needed,’’ Victor Parlicov said.   

The minister noted that, for the beginning, the scheme of the future tariffs would be applied only to the participants in the pilot projects and the goal is to notice their behavior, the habits of consumption, if the night tariff helps reducing the peaks of consumption and in order to stabilize the electric energy system. ‘’In particular, especially in the winter months, there are pressing needs to reduce these peaks of energy consumption,’’ Parlicov stressed.  

The smart meters will measure the consumption at short intervals and will submit the data automatically, in secured way and without mistakes to the energy distributor, without the need for the employees of the providing companies to physically read the meters.    

Thus, the consumers will be able to use the household appliances in the hours when the energy is cheaper. The smart household appliances will be able to automatically ‘’read’’ from the meter the tariffs and will decide which is the fittest moment to start working.