There is some news that has immediately disappeared from the paper newspapers in recent days: 934 workers and 140 employees of the Mirafiori plant in Turin will be laid off because, among other reasons, the energy needed to produce the 500 hybrid and electric cars costs too much. And therefore the price of Italian cars cannot stand the competition on the market. From Monday 19th to Friday 30th October, the wages of 1,074 Stellantis employees will be paid by INPS, that is, by us taxpayers. And other periods of plant closures, if conditions do not change, are on the horizon in November and December.

Energy too expensive, there is no money for raw materials

Thousands of other companies, according to trade association sources, having to face record energy costs, are struggling to find the money. So much so that to buy raw materials and pay salaries they have to get into debt with the banks. In the meantime, the large energy companies, also thanks to the increases in bills caused by the wars in Russia-Ukraine and Iran, continue to make billions in profits: in the first half of 2026 the growth in net profit varies, according to the companies, from plus 3 percent to plus 43 percent over the same period in 2025.

Not just investments: 70% of the profit collected by shareholders

It should also be remembered that out of 100 percent of profits, there is a widespread practice of allocating around 30 percent to investments and the remaining 70 percent to dividends to shareholders. The cost of energy therefore contributes to freezing Italian GDP, making Made in Italy less competitive. But no one dares to touch the interests of hundreds of thousands of small savers-voters, perhaps older, who, having put some money aside, have bought shares in the sector. Consensus is also defended in this way.

The alternative to gas-based pricing and the power of extra profits

Obviously any company, including energy ones, has the ethical duty to generate profit if the conditions exist. If he gives up, some competitor will do it in his place. But all this happens because the possible regulators, apart from a few isolated voices, do not dare to question the mechanism based on the skyrocketing cost of natural gas. And not even the billions in profits that the system generates, to the detriment of the real economy. In fact, we will have to wait for the construction of new nuclear power plants, while the Mirafiori case demonstrates that the alternatives adopted so far are not enough (as a study published by Bocconi University explains here). As long as there is war, there is hope. But not for everyone.

Read Fabrizio Gatti’s other editorials and investigations on The Vermilion