Last night, at the third attempt, the Council of Ministers approved a decree to lighten the burden of energy for families and businesses. The text provides for a reimbursement to thermoelectric producers, of an amount defined by Arera, which is triggered when the cost of gas to produce electricity exceeds €58.9/MWh. The reduction of gas transport costs is also envisaged by inserting other items among those that are reimbursed to thermoelectric power plants.
The mechanism will start in 2027 and will have a maximum duration of 18 months. All the measures should lower the Pun, i.e. the reference price of electricity on the Italian market.
Who will save on electricity
Before calculating the possible savings, a premise must be made. The measure will have direct benefits only and exclusively on variable price contracts (indexed to market trends), while for those who have already signed a fixed price offer nothing will change, unless they decide to withdraw from the contract and sign another one, which however is not necessarily more convenient.
The estimates
As for the cost of energy, saccording to the Minister of the Environment Gilberto Pichetto Fratin “the measures of the decree will allow an average reduction of approximately 15 euros per megawatt hour” and therefore of approximately 1.5 euros for 100kwh. Since according to Arera a typical family consumes 2,700 kWh per year (about 225 kWh on average per month), in theory the potential savings for the average family is 3.40 euros, but a part is drained by the costs that also fall on consumers.
According to the Ecco think tank, the measure would in fact save a family only 1.4 euros per month, 17 euros per year, despite the fact that from February to today bills have increased on average by 30 euros per month. Speaking on Radio Anch’io on Rai Radio1, minister Pichetto Fratin instead estimated that the decree will lower the price by 5%, underlining that “those who sell energy will earn less”.
In fact, the cost of the measure is not borne by the public coffers, but is passed on to the operators of the supply chain and to renewables. The decree explicitly prohibits suppliers from passing on coverage fees to customers who have price-locked contracts.
Codacons estimates savings of between 14 and 45 euros per year
According to the Codacons simulations, the savings are between “27 and 37 euros per year per family, but on the measure”, warns the association, “there are still too many unknowns that could reduce the benefits for consumers by up to half”.
Based on the simulations, a single person with electricity consumption between 1,000 and 1,500 kWh per year would save between 14 and 21 euros per year on their bills; a couple with consumption between 2,000 and 2,200 kWh/year would save between 27.5 and 30 euros per year; for a family with consumption between 2,500 and 2,700 kWh/year the savings would be between 34.5 and 37 euros per year; a family with high consumption (3000-3,300 kWh/year) would enjoy a discount between 41.5 and 45.5 euros per year.
“However”, underlines Codacons, “these are estimates which are affected by various variables. The demand for energy, gas prices on the markets, and the actual distribution of the charges which, as is known, fall partly on operators, partly on consumers, could significantly reduce the benefit on the bill, up to halving it”.
| Typology | Annual consumption | Savings estimated according to Codacons |
| Single | 1,000-1,500 kWh | €14-21 |
| Couple | 2,000-2,200 kWh | €27.5-30 |
| Family | 2,500-2,700 kWh | €34.5-37 |
| Family with high consumption | 3,000-3,300 kWh | €41.5-45.5 |
The measure will affect 18 million families (according to Assoutenti)
Assoutenti notes that “the measures announced yesterday by the government affect 18 million families, i.e. those who have variable price electricity contracts: these are users – explains the association – who fall within the free market, vulnerable and customers of the Gradual Protection Service, in total 59% of domestic users. However – specifies the president Gabriele Melluso – the greater costs borne by energy companies could also be reflected in fixed price contracts, which are currently not affected by the measures of the bill decree”.
“The risk in fact – reports Melluso – is that to compensate for the higher costs borne by them and protect themselves from the future effects of the new measures, suppliers on the one hand significantly reduce the number of fixed price offers currently present on the market, and on the other hand apply much more disadvantageous economic conditions to those who have a fixed price contract expiring in the next few months. A component of risk – he concludes – which is added to the physiological increases linked to the upward trend of energy prices on the markets. For this reason it will be necessary to evaluate carefully and in substance the real effects that the bill decree will produce for consumers’ pockets”.