Cingolani, position of energy consultant in the Meloni government free of charge – Corriere.it

Former Ecological Transition Minister Roberto Cingolani will work at Palazzo Chigi as a councilor. Roberto Cingolani’s appointment as energy consultant “will be free of charge”. This was explained by the Minister for Relations with Parliament, Luca Ciriani, at the end of the Council of Ministers. The role of «energy advisor» for Palazzo Chigi was «agreed with Draghi and Meloni – he underlined to Cingolani. The work on the price cap and the regasification terminal must be completed. He will be Meloni’s advisor on energy matters. All the work on the roof has to be finished at the price of gas, which has been approved, but now we have to work on terms and conditions. Now I will work with my successor »Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, explained the former Minister of Ecological Transition Roberto Cingolani. To those who asked him if his assignment will cease at the end of winter, «well, I hope the emergency ends, so I agreed», was the answer.

The crazy bills of recent months and the 63 billion already invested by the Draghi government to cushion its impact: the legacy facing the new executive. The intuition, for this, of an energy emergency commissioner employed by Palazzo Chigi with the role of consultant-ferryman for a few months therefore entrusted (and accepted for institutional duty) by the former minister Roberto Cingolani. And then four dossiers to be taken in the running, from the very first days. The first inevitably invests the Treasury led by Giancarlo Giorgetti: a fourth Aid decree will be used shortly to support businesses and families in difficulty with the cost of energy.

Of course, the price of gas has dropped significantly in the last month and the European agreement on the dynamic ceiling reached the day before yesterday should sterilize the peaks and speculations on the Dutch stock exchange, but the value of gas remains six times above the levels of the first half of 2021, therefore gas and electricity tariffs will probably fall in the coming weeks but not in such a decisive way as to make those short of cash take a breather. The most plausible hypothesis is to extend the elimination of system charges, which account for 20% of the energy account, beyond the end of the year. This is an intervention that costs the state coffers 4 billion per quarter but is inevitable in order not to put the industry at risk.

It is also possible to extend the tax credit beyond the end year for energy costs. It is currently set at 50% for those who consume over 16.5 kilowatts, and at 30% for those below this threshold. This is a useful tax refund at this stage, which it will be difficult to do without at least in the first months of 2023. The hypothesis of another social bonus of 150 euros for the less well-off groups to be recognized between December and January is also taking shape. , which presumably will converge in the budget law to be presented in Brussels by the end of November.

The second concerns the sale of gas at controlled prices to energy-intensive companies. An implementation decree is pending, bequeathed by the dicastery of Cingolani, to be written in haste, relaunching the national production of methane now at an all-time low. The outgoing minister himself has already talked about it with his successor, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, to push the gas extraction wells that currently Cuban 3.3 billion cubic meters. Too few: at least this quota must be doubled for greater energy independence by exploiting the basin of the upper Adriatic by reactivating the now stopped drills.

The third concerns the state guarantee, which can be activated through the subsidiary of the Treasury, Sace, to support the loans of energy companies in crisis with bank guarantees. Confindustria itself is fighting for a Covid model guarantee fund capable of intervening in the event of a chain default. The fourth should be agreed with the same association of industrialists which is about to present its plan for the reform of the electricity market to the government. The need is to proceed with a list of priorities in case of need for gas rationing in the coming months. We will draw from the list of voluntary interruptibles, those that can be spent without stressing too much the system that must still power the thermoelectric plants. Without the Piombino regasification terminal in operation at the end of March and in anticipation of a zeroing of flows from Russia, this is an inevitable scenario. Better to prepare in time, and block the production of those who can by helping those who cannot.