Agentul termic intre masura incompetentei si minciuna cogenerarii de inalta eficientaThe Heating Water Between a Measure of Incompetence and the Lie About the High-Efficiency Cogeneration

Viceprimarul general al Capitalei, Marcel Nicolaescu, a deschis ieri Cutia Pandorei in privinta problemelor care ii asteapta pe bucuresteni in iarna ce se apropie, din punctul de vedere al incalzirii centralizate. Acuma, cat inca temperaturile de afara sunt normale, Radet, societatea de distributie a agentului termic, va restrictiona programul apei calde pe timp de noapte, pentru a putea da incalzire. Chiar daca ulterior declaratiile au fost nuantate, problema ramane si este una foarte grava. Primaria nu stie pe unde sa-si scoata camasa cu subventia caldurii si sa acopere pierderile Radet. Pe de alta parte, Elcen, producatorul agentului termic, nu stie cum sa-si acopere ineficienta, in ciuda faptului ca termocentralele din Bucuresti au fost declarate de inalta cogenerare.

Problema Bucurestiului in ceea ce priveste incalzirea nu este singulara la nivel de tara. Daca in celelalte mari orase tariful agentului termic a ajuns la sume astronomice, fara a acoperi cheltuielile reale ale CET-urilor, in schimb, in Bucuresti, tariful a fost tinut jos, caci Primaria a avur de unde sa dea subventie. Ei, acuma, Primaria Capitalei a ajuns la fundul sacului si tot ce nu s-a facut in anii precedenti se razbuna inca din aceasta iarna. Amintim ca in bugetul Primariei, nivelul votat al subventiei a fost de 130 milioane lei, in conditiile in care minimul necesar este de 150 milioane lei.

Pentru a simplifica lucrurile, in aceasta analiza ne vom concentra strict pe incalzirea din Bucuresti, nu inainte de a va reaminti ca taxa de cogenerare, pe care o achita toti consumatorii din Romania in factura de electricitate, nu se stie nici dupa doi ani de incasare unde a ajuns. Si vorbim aici de circa un miliarde de lei/an. Sa ne intoarcem insa la Bucuresti.

De ce ne mint autoritatile?

Primul ministru Victor Ponta si primarul general al Capitalei, Sorin Oprescu, au decis inca din vara anului trecuct ca cel mai mare producator de agent termic din tara, ELCEN Bucuresti sa fuzioneze cu societatea de distributie RADET, astfel incat in iarna care se apropia sa nu fie majorate tarifele la caldura si apa calda. Pe de alta parte, penalitatile la datoria RADET catre ELCEN (peste un miliard de lei la vremea respectiva), urmau a fi sterse, pe motivul ca “nu vor putea fi platite niciodata”, dupa cum declara Victor Ponta. Ca o paranteza, amintim ca datoria Radet catre Elcen depasea suma de 2.224 miliarde lei.

Datoria istorica a societatii de distributie RADET se rostogoleste inca din timpul guvernarii taraniste, cand primar general al Capitalei si apoi prim ministru era Victor Ciorbea. Era vorba la vremea respectiva de 5.000 de miliarde lei vechi, la care de-a lungul timpului s-au adaugat penalitatile de circa 8.000 de miliarde lei vechi. Este foarte adevarat, Primaria platea cu prioritate (pentru RADET) penalitatile, inaintea de a achita factura de consum la zi. Asa prevedea legea. Drept urmare, pentru ca nu putea sa achite si penalitatile si factura curenta, pe masura ce se platea o transa se acumula o alta la penalitati.

Daca intentia lui Victor Ponta de a sterge datoriile se materializa insemna ca Primaria trebuia sa fie cu platile la zi. Or, acest lucru nu este posibil in nici un fel la nivelul Capitalei, unde restantele consumatorilor , termenul stabilit pentru plata facturilor dar si bugetul redus al Primariei exclud o asemenea varianta. Cu toate acestea, primarul Sorin Oprescu dadea asigurari ca energia termica nu se va scumpi, caci Primaria va continua sa acorde subventia, , ceea ce echivaleaza cu 25% din bugetul institutiei. Anul acesta insa, Sorin Oprescu nu se mai hazardeaza sa faca asemenea declaratii. Inventeaza in schimb altceva.

Unii consuma, dar de platit platesc toti

Dincolo de faptul ca Bucurestiul este singurul oras din Romania care isi permite sa acorde un asemenea nivel de subventie (pretul real al gigacaloriei este de 350 lei, in timp ce pretul achitat de populatie este de 170 lei), la aceasta povara participa toti contribuabilii din Bucuresti, inclusiv cei care au centrale termice de apartament. Este corect? In acelasi timp, pierderile RADET (singura regie ramasa nerestructurata in acesti ani) sunt acoperite tot de catre contribuabili.In varianta in care printr-o fuziune cu ELCEN, este foarte posibil ca respectivele pierderi sa fie mascate si, eventual, transferate in pretul gigacaloriei si al energiei electrice.

De ce nu s-a facut fuziunea Elcen-Radet?

Daca problema RADET se va rezolva partial prin fuziunea cu ELCEN, in schimb, situatia acestei din urma societati se va complica si mai mult. Autoritatea de Reglementare stabileste preturile gigacaloriei si ale energiei electrice, pe baza unor date puse la dispozitie de catre ELCEN. Absolut niciodata in acesti ultimi ani, pretul nu a tinut cont de adevaratele costuri de productie ale ELCEN, cat mai ales de indicatiile venite de la Palatul Victoria. De aceea s-a ajuns ca ELCEN sa acumuleze pierderi si datorii de sute de milioane de lei. ANRE nu-si va mai permite insa sa masluiasca tarifele, fiind deja o autoritate independenta, drept pentru care Elcen a inceput sa-si ia masuri de protectie, nemaifiind dispusa sa suporte pierderile Radet.

Toate aceste lucruri erau cunoascute inainte de a se lua decizia fuziunii intre Elcen si Radet. Problema este ca nici guvernul, nici Primaria Capitalei nu stiau cum sa le rezolve. Vara care a trecut nu le-a fost de nici un folos, drept pentru care problema incalzirii centralizate in Capitala a redevenit presanta.

(va urma)The deputy mayor of Bucharest, Marcel Nicolaescu, opened Pandora’s box yesterday, talking about the district heating issues to be expected by the capital’s residents during the coming winter. For the time being, while the outdoor temperatures are normal, RADET (the district heating company) will restrict the hot water delivery during night time, to be able to supply heating. Even if Mr. Nicolaescu later nuanced his position, the problem remains, and it is very serious. The municipality has no idea how to handle the heating subventions and how to cover RADET’s losses. On the other hand, ELCEN, the producer of heating water, can hardly cover its incompetence, despite the qualification of the thermal power stations of Bucharest as ‘high-efficient cogeneration’ type.

Bucharest’s heating issue is not particular at country level. But while in other large cities the price of the heating water skyrocketed and still doesn’t cover the actual costs of the thermal power stations, in Bucharest the price was kept low, as the municipality could afford the subventions. Now the city of Bucharest is flat busted, and all the things left undone during the last years will take their toll this very winter. It’s worth mentioning that the municipality voted a subvention volume of 130mn RON, while the minimum necessary is 150mn RON.

To make things simple, this analysis will focus only on the heating of Bucharest, but before that, remember the cogeneration tax paid by all the consumers in Romania on their electricity bills, a tax whose fate is unknown after two years. And we’re talking about 1bn RON per year. Now let’s get back to Bucharest’s problem.

Why Do the Authorities Lie to Us?

The prime-minister Victor Ponta and the mayor of Bucharest, Sorin Oprescu have decided since the summer of 2012 the merger of the largest heat producer of Romania, ELCEN Bucharest, with the distribution company RADET, to avoid increasing the bills for heating and hot water for the next winter. Moreover, the penalties for RADET’s debt to ELCEN, more than 1bn RON at that time, were to be written off, as “it will be impossible to pay them anyhow”, as Mr. Ponta said. Note that RADET’s debt to ELCEN was more than 2.224bn RON.

The historical debt of the distribution company RADET is rolling over since the times of Peasant Party’s government (1996 – 2000), when Victor Ciorbea was mayor of Bucharest and then prime-minister. At that time there were 5000bn ROL (old lei), to which penalties of approximately 8000 ROL added up. It is true that the municipality paid the penalties (to RADET) as a priority, before settling the current bills. That was required by law. As a consequence, since it wasn’t capable of paying both the penalties and the current bill, a new tranche added up to the penalties when an old one was paid.

If Mr. Ponta’s intention to write off the debt would have become effective, the municipality would not have outstanding debts. But this is not possible for Bucharest, due to the consumers’ debts, the due dates of the bills, and the small municipal budget . However, Mr. Oprescu was assuring us that the heating will not be more expensive, and the municipality will continue to grant the subventions, which is equivalent to 25% of the city’s budget. This year, the mayor has refrained from such risky statements. He invented something else.

Some Consume, Everybody Pays

Besides Bucharest being the only city in Romania who can afford such a level of subventions (the actual price per Gcal is 350 RON, while the households pay 170 RON), all the taxpayers in Bucharest contribute, including those who have their own boilers. Is this fair? Meanwhile, RADET’s (the only public utility not restructured along the years) losses are also paid by the taxpayers. Hiding these losses and possibly transferring them in the Gcal and electricity prices is very probable in case of a merger with ELCEN.

Why Did ELCEN and RADET Not Merge?

If RADET’s problems will be partially solved by merging with ELCEN, the latter will find itself in even deeper trouble. The Romanian Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE) sets the prices of heat and electricity based on data provided by ELCEN. Never, during the later years, has this price been related to the actual production costs of ELCEN; it was rather influenced by the government’s suggestions. That’s how ELCEN’s losses and debts added up to hundreds of millions of RON. But ANRE will no longer afford cheating with the tariffs, as now it is an independent authority. Therefore, ELCEN has started to take precautions and is no longer inclined to support RADET’s losses.

All these were known before deciding the merger of ELCEN and RADET. The problem is, neither the government, nor the municipality of Bucharest have solutions. The past summer didn’t help, and now the district heating of the capital is an urgent matter again.

(to be continued)