By Lucian Țion
Abstract
The article, entitled “Heating as a cultural symptom: a critical analysis of Romanian energy waste”, examines the contrast between the performance of the energy infrastructure inherited from the communist period and energy waste in post-1989 Romania.
Key points:
- Legacy and perception: Romania inherited a high-performance energy infrastructure (Petrom, Electrica, Hidroelectrica), but the negative public perception of the communist regime fueled an ideology of “accelerated progress” after 1989.
- “Thermal revenge”: The desire to counteract the cold in socialist homes led to an “irrational race to overheat” public spaces (cafes, schools, transport) as a form of “thermal revenge” and a display of supposed “wealth,” confusing living at 30°C with Western luxury.
- Contrasts with the West: In developed Nordic countries (the UK, the Netherlands, the US, Canada), the maximum temperature in public spaces in winter does not exceed 17–18°C, a strict policy based on economic reasons and the moral pressure of global warming. This practice makes Romania look ridiculous.
- Ecological impact: Energy waste is exacerbated by the fact that 70% of energy still comes from fossil fuels, contributing to a “smog curtain” that separates post-socialist Eastern Europe from Western Europe.
- Proposed solution: The author suggests an awareness and information campaign to bring Romania into line with European standards. This would combat traditionalist theories about the cold “getting into your bones” and explain the scientific fact that viruses spread more quickly in overheated and unventilated spaces (above 18°C).
- Conclusion: Excessive energy consumption has become a “mechanism for overcompensating for historical frustrations” and a pathological trait, wasting enormous amounts of energy every year and confusing progress with waste and dignity with comfort.
Article
We inherited one of the most efficient energy infrastructures from the communist regime. Companies such as Petrom, Electrica, and Transgaz, to name but a few, were built on the backbone of this infrastructure, and after being listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, they became stars of the regional capital markets, consistently generating profits above the European stock market average. Another energy giant, Hidroelectrica, was named the “star of the Romanian stock exchange” when it was listed in 2023, briefly becoming the most valuable Romanian company, boasting a market capitalization of €12.6 billion, comparable to that of a major European mid-cap company.
However, public perception of the regime led by the Communist Party until 1989 remains deeply negative. Due to an overly uncritical analysis, which continues to treat the past without nuance, i.e., without weighing the “good” and the “bad,” the socialist regime has become the scapegoat blamed for the economic, social, and political shortcomings that have afflicted Romania throughout the modern era. That is why all post-December governments, regardless of their political colour, have promoted the ideology of accelerated progress, sometimes to the point of obsession.
Because of this ideology, post-1989 Romania finds itself constantly engaged in a race to prove to itself and anyone willing to listen that it is at the forefront of the former socialist countries by putting the most modern housing into use, purchasing the most efficient cars (usually of German origin), and adapting, sometimes improvised, the most modern technologies. If during socialism public transport suffered from endemic shortages, now medium-sized cities in Romania boast some of the newest fleets in Europe. While some foods were in short supply, we now have one of the most efficient (and most expensive) service industries. And finally, while socialist apartments were often cold, democratic Romania seems to have embarked on an irrational race to overheat: cafes, banks, schools, universities, hotels, trains, and buses have become spaces where the ambient temperature in the cold season is many degrees above the normal standards of developed countries in the same climate zone.
Anyone who has traveled to the northern hemisphere has probably noticed that in countries such as the UK, the Netherlands, the US, or Canada, the maximum temperature in public spaces in winter does not exceed 17–18°C. This is, of course, based on economic reasons, which leads to a somewhat surprising comparison: the policy of energy conservation in the global North is implemented as strictly as that of the Communist Party. In the last two decades, moral pressure related to global warming has been added to these financial considerations. The West has internalized this pressure in the most serious way, concluding that, although you freeze in the winter, no one disputes the necessity of these policies.
In Romania, however, 35 years of democracy have meant, metaphorically, 35 years of “thermal revenge.” To celebrate the fact that we no longer shiver from the cold, we have transformed our interiors into small tropical greenhouses, which have become forms of propaganda for the success of democratic regimes. Not only can we (over)heat ourselves, but we also want to show anyone interested in getting to know us that we can “afford” it, that we are a “rich” people. Unfortunately, this attitude of confusing living at 30 degrees with the proverbial Western luxury causes a major imbalance that makes us look ridiculous in the eyes of those we want to impress with our Western standards.
Moreover, while 30% of national energy already comes from green sources, the remaining 70% is still produced from fossil fuels. Cities are increasingly clogged with emissions from coal and methane gas combustion, compounded by pollution from cars. This has led to the formation of a new “smog curtain” that now separates the entire post-socialist East from Western Europe.
If climate warnings fail to awaken our sense of responsibility, perhaps it is time for the state to take note of the energy waste that occurs in Romania every year starting in September, when, at the slightest hint of a cold breeze, the country “turns on the heat,” even though it may still be 20°C outside. A small information campaign would not only bring Romania into line with European standards, but would also combat the atavistic traditionalist theories that see the cold as capable of “getting into our bones” and making us sick. This would explain to the population the scientifically proven fact that viruses and microbes act faster in unventilated and overheated spaces than in those heated to optimal temperatures (i.e., up to 18°C).
Finally, if the guilt we should feel for contributing to global warming does not bother us, perhaps the increasing waste of energy will eventually convince legislators to put an end to these harmful practices, at least in public spaces. However beneficial energy consumption may be for the economy, when it becomes a mechanism for overcompensating for historical frustrations, it takes on pathological characteristics. This is because enormous amounts are lost annually to heat a country that continues to suffer from a confused nostalgia for a traumatic past, to which it pathologically relates, confusing progress with waste and dignity with comfort.
Photo: Bucharest (source: Pixabay, CC0)
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