How to Change the Name on an Electricity Contract in Romania (2026 Guide)
You’ve just bought an apartment in Bucharest, inherited your parents’ house in Giurgiu, or signed a lease in Ilfov. The lights work, but the electricity bill still arrives in someone else’s name. What now?
The good news: changing the account holder (in Romanian, schimbare de titular) is one of the simplest procedures in the Romanian energy system. It’s free, it takes three documents, and in most cases nothing happens to the physical installation at all. The catch is that many people start by calling the wrong company, so let’s clear that up first.
One honest note before we start. SUN WATT SRL (bransam.ro) is an ANRE-certified company (atestat nr. 19761) that designs and builds electrical connections (bransamente). We do not process name changes — that procedure is strictly between you and your electricity supplier, and nobody should charge you for “helping” with it. We wrote this guide because clients ask about it every week, and because some “name change” situations turn out to need real connection work, which is what we do.
Supplier vs distributor: who actually handles the name change?
This is the single most common confusion in the Romanian electricity market, so let’s fix it up front. Two different companies stand between the power plant and your socket:
The supplier (furnizor) — the company on your bill
The supplier sells you energy and invoices you: Hidroelectrica, PPC Energie (the former Enel Energie), E.ON Energie, Engie, Premier Energy and others. Your contract — and therefore the name on it — lives with the supplier.
The name change happens 100% at the supplier.
The distribution operator (distribuitor) — the company that owns the wires
The distributor owns and operates the physical network: poles, cables, your meter and the connection to your building (the bransament). In Bucharest, Ilfov and Giurgiu this is Retele Electrice Romania S.A. (the former E-Distributie, originally Enel). You can’t choose your distributor — it’s fixed by geography — and you never contact them for a name change.
The distributor only enters the picture when something physical or technical changes: a new connection, a power increase, a meter relocation, a disconnection or reconnection.
A rule of thumb that solves 90% of the confusion: questions about the bill go to the supplier; questions about wires and the meter go to the distributor.
The three situations that trigger a name change
You bought a house or apartment
The classic case. The previous owner’s contract doesn’t transfer automatically — you submit a request to a supplier (the same one, or a new one of your choice) with your sale-purchase deed, and a new contract is opened in your name.
You inherited a property
Same procedure, but the proof of ownership is the inheritance certificate (certificat de mostenitor) issued by the notary. If the estate is still being settled, ask the supplier what they accept as proof that you are the legal heir.
You’re renting
Tenants can take the contract over with the registered lease (contract de inchiriere); some suppliers also ask for the owner’s written consent. Many landlords keep the contract in their own name and recharge the tenant — legal and common, but then you have no direct relationship with the supplier and no say over the tariff. For a long-term tenancy, taking over the contract is usually worth the small effort.
The documents — and the one detail people forget
| Situation | Proof of right | Always needed |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase | Sale-purchase deed | ID + meter reading (index) |
| Inheritance | Inheritance certificate | ID + meter reading (index) |
| Rental | Registered lease (+ owner’s consent if asked) | ID + meter reading (index) |
The detail people forget is the meter index. Read the meter on handover day, photograph it, and write the value into the handover protocol (proces-verbal de predare-primire). That number is the boundary line: everything before it is the previous holder’s consumption, everything after it is yours. Five minutes with a phone camera prevents almost every billing dispute we’ve ever heard of.
Some suppliers also ask for the place-of-consumption code (cod loc de consum, sometimes labelled POD) — copy it from any old bill.
Step by step: how the change works in 2026
- Read the meter together at handover and record the index in the protocol.
- Submit the request to the supplier — online form, email, app, or at a customer office. Attach the deed/certificate/lease, your ID and the index.
- The supplier verifies the documents. They may contact the previous holder to close the old contract at the same index.
- A new contract is issued in your name. The old one is terminated; the previous holder receives a final bill up to the recorded index.
- Your first bill arrives. Done.
Realistic timeframe: from a few days to about two weeks, depending on the supplier. Cost: free — under the ANRE regulations in force, suppliers do not charge for a holder change. No electrician visits your property, no works are performed on the connection, and no ATR is needed, as long as the technical parameters stay exactly the same.
Bonus: a name change is also the easiest moment to switch supplier. As the new holder you’re not bound by the previous owner’s choice — compare offers and sign with whoever has the better tariff.
What a name change does NOT cover
A holder change keeps everything technical frozen: same approved power, same single-phase or three-phase connection, same meter. If the property’s electrical reality doesn’t match your plans, paperwork at the supplier won’t fix it:
- The approved power is too small. You’re moving in with an EV charger, a heat pump or an electric hob, and the house was approved for 3-5 kW decades ago. That’s a power increase (spor putere) — a technical procedure through the distributor, via a new technical connection approval (ATR, Aviz Tehnic de Racordare). Our assistance for power increases starts from 350 lei. Not sure how much your appliances actually draw? Start with our guide on what power you need.
- You need three-phase instead of single-phase. Same story: a new ATR through the operator and, usually, works on the connection.
Special case: no connection, or a property disconnected years ago
Sometimes the “name change” question hides a bigger problem. Two scenarios we see regularly:
The property never had a connection
A new build, a holiday house, a plot with a cabin: if there is no meter and no bransament, there is nothing to transfer. You need the full grid-connection process with Retele Electrice Romania S.A.: connection dossier, ATR, execution of the connection, the DIU file and the meter. As an indication, our works for a standard single-phase connection start from 1,800 lei; the operator’s own connection tariff is set individually through the ATR.
The property was disconnected (debransat)
If the old contract was terminated years ago and the operator physically removed the meter or the connection, reconnection is not a name change either. Depending on what was removed and the state of the installation, the operator treats it as a re-energisation or, after long periods, much like a new connection. In almost every case you’ll need a valid DIU (Dosarul Instalatiei de Utilizare — the file proving your internal installation is safe) before the meter goes back on. We prepare DIU files nationwide, from 1,200 lei.
Honest warning: a house that has been dark for ten years is a project, not a form — budget weeks rather than days, and get it assessed before you promise the family a move-in date.
Where bransam.ro fits in — and where we don’t
To keep it transparent:
- Name change at the supplier: we don’t do it. It’s free, simple, and entirely between you and the supplier.
- New connections and reconnections: we do — design and execution in Bucharest, Ilfov and Giurgiu, as an ANRE-certified company.
- Power increases: we handle the ATR paperwork and any works on the connection.
- DIU files: we prepare them anywhere in Romania.
Need more than a name change?
If the property you’ve just bought, inherited or rented needs a new connection, more power or a DIU file, call 0733 097 440 (phone or WhatsApp) or write to us via the contact page. We’ll tell you in five minutes whether your case is a free form at the supplier — or a real project we can take off your hands.