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Romania Energy
Crisis of the 1980s
Despite significant energy resources and an extensive
industry
to exploit them, the sector performed poorly during the
1980s,
seriously damaging economic performance as a whole and
causing
great hardship for the population. In 1986, for example,
electricity production fell 2.6 percent below target; this
poor
performance resulted in an estimated 4.7 percent reduction
in
national income. Not only was the goal of energy
self-sufficiency
by 1990 not fulfilled, all trends indicated that in the
1990s
Romania would be increasingly dependent on imported fuels
and
electricity--especially from the Soviet Union. The sector
performed
so poorly that Ceausescu issued a decree in 1985
militarizing the
energy industry. That decree stated that a military
commander and
subordinate cadres would be assigned to each power plant
to improve
its efficiency and ensure uninterrupted operation.
The energy program for the 1980s called for drastically
reducing reliance on oil and gas, while increasing the
contribution
of coal, hydroelectric power, nuclear power, and
nonconventional
sources (see
table 8, Appendix). Romanian industry was
among the
world's least energy-efficient. Measures to reduce waste
were
largely unsuccessful, and the population bore the brunt of
conservation, even though private households accounted for
only
about 6 percent of total consumption. During the 1980s,
the
government strictly rationed electricity, natural gas,
gasoline,
and other oil products, levying heavy fines for exceeding
ration
allotments.
Data as of July 1989
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