Thousands of households still live in darkness while Romania boasts about its regional energy ambitions.
Romania dreams of becoming a regional energy hub, but thousands of citizens still light candles in their homes. Children studying by the light of gas lamps or flashlights, lonely elderly people, and needy families living in darkness – this is the ignored reality. More than 5,000 households still lack access to electricity today – a prolonged governance failure. How can a country that wants to export energy to the region leave its own citizens in the dark?
The Map of a Dark Romania
While Europe rapidly advances towards innovative technologies – from renewables to digitalization and artificial intelligence – Romania still has households living in darkness, as if a century ago. In over 30 years of promises, authorities have failed to fulfill their constitutional and moral duty to bring light to every home.
In the summer of 2021, the Intelligent Energy Association launched the project “Energy for Life” to raise awareness about extreme energy poverty in Romania. In 2024, with the support of the Ministry of Energy, the association created the first National Electronic Register of Households Without Electricity (RENGEER). The inventory revealed 5,494 unconnected homes in Romania, where over 11,600 people live – nearly half of them children.
Most of these homes are in isolated mountain areas with no real chance of being connected to the grid. Data collected shows that 87% of such houses lack cadastral registration, making institutional solutions even harder. Additionally, 64% of inhabitants have incomes below the minimum wage, meaning that even if connected, many could not afford electricity bills. Access is difficult in 53% of cases, and 10% of homes have no road access at all. For these households, photovoltaic systems – harnessing free solar energy – are the most practical solution.
Through ten stages carried out so far, “Energy for Life” has electrified 71 households in 35 hamlets across eight counties (Alba, Harghita, Vrancea, Bistrița Năsăud, Cluj, Mureș, Hunedoara, Buzău), using solar panels with batteries. But this is just a drop of light in an ocean of darkness.
The map of unlit Romania shows, for example, 585 households without electricity in Satu Mare County, followed by Bistrița-Năsăud (543), Harghita (468), Covasna (365), and Suceava (358). For decision-makers, these may look like statistics. In reality, each number hides a harsh story: rural children studying by candlelight, unable to use laptops in the digital era; families without refrigerators, radios, TVs, or internet; people unable to charge phones to call emergency services; elderly living without basic medical devices.
Between Two Worlds
The EU treats energy access not just as an economic issue but as a fundamental right. Combating energy poverty is a priority, and member states are obliged to ensure that the benefits of the green transition reach the most vulnerable. The European Green Deal and REPowerEU strategy set clear goals: clean, affordable energy for all, and ensuring “no one is left behind.”
The upcoming EU Energy Package for Citizens emphasizes that “a just energy transition involves and supports all citizens, regardless of where they live or how much they earn.”
The European Pillar of Social Rights (2017) and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (2015) both recognize energy as an essential service everyone has the right to access. The UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with its principle “Leave no one behind”, commits all UN members, including Romania, to end extreme poverty and reduce inequality by ensuring vulnerable groups are not excluded.
Failure and Indifference
In Romania, the lack of electricity in thousands of households is not just about geography or resources but about failed public policies and social indifference.
Several national electrification programs were launched in the past three decades, none completed. The first coherent program (2007) failed due to lack of administrative, financial, and legal tools. A new plan (2012–2016) was abandoned the same year. The “First Light” program (2016) also collapsed after a change of government. Another attempt, “Photovoltaic Systems for Isolated Households” (2019), promised solar panels for 7,100 homes, but failed due to poor program design and excessive bureaucracy.
The Romania 2025–2035 Energy Strategy acknowledges the problem, estimating 7,500 unconnected homes (4,700 permanently inhabited). It sets the goal that by 2035, all households and businesses should have electricity access, with decentralized solutions (micro-grids, distributed generation, local energy communities).
But for the elderly waiting decades to flip a switch for the first time, and for children studying by candlelight, 10 more years is an eternity.
Poverty at the Grassroots, Mega-Projects on Paper
While thousands of Romanians live in darkness, the government boasts about mega-projects: offshore wind (3 GW by 2035), expanded nuclear capacity (up to 35%), Black Sea natural gas exploitation (EUR 4 billion), and a HVDC interconnector from the Black Sea to Hungary. Billions are allocated to these projects, while only EUR 27 million would be enough to electrify all remaining households – at an estimated EUR 2,000–5,000 per solar kit.
Why the State Failed
Despite unprecedented EU funds, Romania never included complete electrification in major programs like the PNRR or Modernization Fund. Programs aimed at vulnerable consumers exclude the poorest – those without electricity – due to impossible eligibility criteria (such as already having an electrical installation). Thus, aid goes to the “wrong vulnerable” groups, while the most affected remain invisible.
A National Shame
Over 30 years after the Revolution, Romania has failed to secure a basic right. Poorer countries like India electrified tens of millions of households in just five years, while Romania struggles with a few thousand.
Who Is Responsible?
Civil society and foreign partners (like Norway through Innovation Norway) have stepped in with solar kits, but they cannot achieve national-scale electrification. Access to electricity is not a luxury but a fundamental right. Leaving it to NGOs creates inequality: some villages get lucky, others remain in darkness.
The state must assume responsibility with a national program, proper funding, and a clear timeline. NGOs and private companies can complement, but not replace, state action.
As Monica David, president of the Intelligent Energy Association, says:
“It is not the role of NGOs to electrify Romania, but of the state. Every household in darkness is proof of governance failure. NGOs can be models, but the ultimate responsibility is public, not private. A fundamental right cannot depend on donations and luck.”
The Real Questions
– Why can poorer countries electrify millions of homes, but Romania cannot manage a few thousand in 30 years?
– How many households remain unelectrified?
– What is the government’s concrete plan, budget, and timeline?
– Why are successful NGO pilot projects not scaled nationally?
– When will Romania officially eliminate extreme energy poverty?
Until then, Romania cannot claim to “light up Europe” while leaving its own citizens in darkness. More than 5,000 homes without electricity remain a national shame. Every electrified household would be not just an energy victory, but a victory of dignity.
