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Reveal Marketing Research : Romanians' perception regarding the liberalization of the energy market in January 2021
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88% of Romanians say they knew that the energy market has been liberalized starting with January 1, 2021.
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64% of respondents say they intend to continue with the same energy supplier.
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One third of Romanians (33%) found out about the liberalization of the energy market only after the 1st of January 2021.
Context
In order to transpose into the Romanian legislation the provisions of Directive 2009/72 / EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009, the Parliament approved in 2012 law no. 123 on the liberalization of the price of electricity. Most of its provisions were amended in 2020 by law 155 / 24.07.2020. Thus, from January 1, 2021, the electricity market was to be liberalized. In the context of numerous debates in the public space related to an insufficient information of the consumers about the changes, Reveal Marketing Research carried out a study on this topic. What is the perception of Romanians in relation to the transition to the competitive electricity market?
Did Romanians know that the energy market has been liberalized starting with the 1st of January 2021?
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88% of Romanians say they knew that the energy market has been liberalized starting with January 1, 2021.
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7% of respondents say they did not know about the change.
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5% of respondents refused to answer.
To what extent do Romanians know what the liberalization of the energy market means?
69% of respondents say they know what the liberalization of the electricity market entails, while 20% of them do not know what it means. According to Reveal Marketing Research, 44% of Romanians say they did not understand very well what are the changes brought by the liberalization of the electricity market, and 11% say they did not understand at all. Instead, 41% of respondents said they understood what these changes entailed. 4% say that everything is clear to them.
Asked about the type of market they customers on, 43% of Romanians said they are on the regulated market, compared to 26% who say they are on the competitive market. 31% of Romanians do not know where their customers are. Educated, middle and high-income people are more likely to be clients in the regulated market - more than half of young professionals (53%) and about the same percentage of modern families (51%).
65% of Romanians believe that prices will be affected to a large and very large extent by this change. Asked how, 83% of respondents believe that prices will rise as a result of liberalization.
When did they find out about the transition to the competitive market and what were the sources of information?
Although the provisions of the law on the liberalization of the electricity market were amended in July 2020, almost half of the respondents (48%) say that they found out about this between September and December 2020. Instead, a third of Romanians (33%) found out about the liberalization of the energy market only after January 1, 2021. 10% of respondents refused to answer, when asked about the changes in the electricity market.
More than half of Romanians (54%) say they have learned about the changes in the energy market from television. Almost a quarter of Romanians (24%) say they have been informed by their electricity supplier about the new law. Online news platforms were a source of information on the liberalization of the electricity market for over a third of respondents (34%). Social networks were mentioned by only 17% of respondents. Instead, 13% of Romanians say they learned from relatives, friends or acquaintances about these changes in the energy market. Among the segments, single adults selected in the largest proportion that they learned about the liberalization from TV - 70%, followed by 59% of the traditional families with the same option. Modern families have selected online news publications in the largest proportion - 45%, according to Reveal Marketing Research.
The role of the supplier in informing customers
Of the total sample, 44% of respondents state that they were informed by their electricity supplier about the transition to a competitive market. On the other hand, 45% say that the supplier did not inform them. 10% of respondents did not want to answer this question.
What do Romanians decide? Do they keep the same electricity supplier or do they want to change it?
Although many Romanians say they have not been informed by the electricity supplier about the competitive market, they declare they do not want to change it: 64% of respondents say they intend to keep the same electricity supplier in the future. Only 6% of Romanians say they intend to change their supplier. A significant percentage is that of the undecided: 25% of Romanians have not yet decided how to proceed, and 5% refused to answer this question. Of the segments, 71% of educated people with children (modern families) say they will stay with the same provider, compared to 58% of traditional families with the same answer.
According to Reveal Marketing Research, when asked if they intend to change their supplier, 84% of respondents say they will get the information about the moving procedure directly from the supplier. Family, friends or acquaintances are sources of information for 48% of Romanians. Press was mentioned by only 22% of respondents when thinking about their sources of information for the relocation procedure.
How do Romanians evaluate the ways of informing the public?
More than half of Romanians (53%) say that the ways of informing the public about the new competitive electricity market were “unsatisfactory”. Only 18% of respondents rated the public information as "good and very good". Retired seniors and modern families are the most dissatisfied segments with this aspect - 66% and 65%, respectively, selected the “unsatisfactory” option in connection with informing people about liberalization.
Who is responsible for the level of information, from Romanians perspective?
Asked who they believe is the main responsible institution for the level of information of the public, 52% of Romanians mentioned ANRE (National Energy Regulatory Authority) and state authorities. 38% of Romanians mentioned the electricity supplier. Of the segments, almost half of young professionals (49%) say that the responsibility lies with the supplier. Only 9% of respondents mentioned the press.
What do vulnerable consumers say?
Among vulnerable consumers (those with an average consumption of less than 55kW / month, according to ANRE), 65% of them say they have been informed by their supplier regarding the changes in the energy market, compared to 26% who say otherwise. 9% of vulnerable consumers refused to answer the question. More than half of those in the category of vulnerable consumers (55%) say they intend to stay with the same supplier, and 34% of them have not yet decided. Only 7% of those with a consumption below 55 kW / month say they intend to change the energy supplier. 4% of the same consumers refused to answer.
Regarding the level of information, 56% of vulnerable consumers, in turn, rate it as "unsatisfactory", compared to 20% of those who say that the information methods were "good and very good".
More than half (58%) of those with a consumption of less than 55 kW / month say that they did not really understand the changes brought by the liberalization of the electricity market, and 17% say that they did not understand at all. A quarter of them (25%) say they understood the changes very well.
About Reveal Marketing Research
Reveal Marketing Research is a market research company, with a team specialized in marketing research, sociological studies, customer insight, business strategy, market development.
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The method used was CAWI (Computer Assisted Web Interview) and 1011 online interviews were conducted with respondents over the age of 18, online users, on a nationally representative urban and rural sample between January 19-25, 2021. Sampling error +/- 3%. Confidence level: 95%.