Romania: Legislative developments in the energy sector with immediate business relevance

A legislative proposal registered in the Senate this week would amend the Energy Law to introduce a formal procedure allowing overhead electricity distribution lines to be placed underground at the request and expense of interested parties, primarily to address land-use constraints in agriculture.

Distribution operators would be required to assess requests, respond within 30 days and, where technically feasible, implement the works. Although costs are borne by the requester, the resulting assets would become part of the public distribution network and remain under the operator’s responsibility. Non-compliance with procedural obligations would be sanctionable. The proposal is at an early parliamentary stage and awaits committee review.

For electricity distribution operators, the proposal would generate a significant administrative and operational burden. Operators would need to process individual requests outside their own investment planning cycles, assess technical feasibility, manage consultations and disputes, and integrate ad hoc assets into the regulated network. The sanctioning mechanism increases exposure if procedures are not handled within statutory timelines. If adopted without safeguards, the measure could affect resource allocation, workload planning and consistency with regulated asset base management.

Distribution operators should closely follow committee debates and engage during the report stage to clarify procedural limits, feasibility criteria, prioritisation rules and alignment with existing network development and regulatory frameworks.

A parliamentary proposal published this week provides for the establishment of the Cybersecurity Incident Response Centre for Energy (CRISCE) as a specialised structure within the Ministry of Energy, directly subordinated to the minister. The initiative revives a concept previously advanced at government level, now reintroduced through Parliament, with the Chamber of Deputies as first chamber.

CRISCE would function as the sectoral CSIRT for the energy sector, covering electricity and other energy infrastructures. Its mandate would include continuous cyber risk monitoring, incident detection and response, post-incident analysis and coordination with national and EU authorities. The proposal also designates the Ministry of Energy, through CRISCE, as the competent authority for applying EU cybersecurity rules on cross-border electricity flows and provides for access to operational and telemetry data, including OT and ICS systems.

The proposal would substantially reinforce centralised cybersecurity governance in the energy sector. Operators would move from entity-level incident handling towards a coordinated, sector-wide model involving continuous interaction with public authorities. Mandatory resilience testing and expanded data access raise important questions regarding proportionality, interfaces with existing CSIRTs and cumulative administrative burden alongside NIS2 obligations.

Energy operators and infrastructure managers should monitor parliamentary debates and committee discussions closely and engage early to clarify scope, data access safeguards, coordination with DNSC and practical implementation arrangements.

A separate legislative proposal amending the Energy Law introduces an obligation for the National Directorate for Cybersecurity to develop technical cybersecurity rules applicable to electricity network access and the priority dispatching of renewable energy and high-efficiency cogeneration, including installations of up to 1 MW, subject to system security conditions. The proposal adds a single new provision without detailing content or timelines.

Following prolonged discussions, the proposal was tacitly adopted by the Senate this week and has been forwarded to the Chamber of Deputies as the decisive chamber. The absence of a statutory deadline means practical effects will depend entirely on subsequent secondary legislation issued by DNSC.

Tacit adoption elevates this initiative to a live legislative risk for the energy sector. Formally linking cybersecurity requirements to grid access and dispatching rules, the proposal may introduce new technical and procedural conditions affecting generators, particularly renewables and small-scale units, as well as system operators. At the same time, the current legal framing remains incomplete, creating uncertainty regarding scope, governance safeguards and consistency with existing energy regulation.

Energy producers, system operators and industry associations should closely monitor debates and amendments in the Chamber of Deputies and engage at committee level to clarify DNSC’s mandate, limits and coordination with energy system operation rules.

The Ministry of Finance has launched a draft law introducing a broad package of measures aimed at economic relaunch, productive investment and competitiveness. The proposal combines state aid instruments, fiscal incentives and financing tools, including expanded use of the Development and Investment Bank (BID) and a permanent mechanism for preparing strategic projects, with implementation envisaged over 2026–2032.

While not energy-specific, the package is relevant for capital-intensive energy and infrastructure projects through potential access to state aid schemes, financing instruments and project preparation support. Final impact will depend on eligibility thresholds, budget allocations and implementation rules.

Companies planning large investment projects should follow the legislative process and assess potential eligibility under the proposed schemes once secondary acts clarify implementation conditions.