The high energy price continues to weigh on the tertiary sector

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Energy costs for the tertiary sector remain heavy despite the declines of recent weeks. Compared to the months before Russia’s attack on Ukraine, the cost of gas registers a +116% while that of electricity is +36%. This is what the latest analysis of Confcommercio’s Tertiary Energy Costs reveals, which highlights how these prices are far from being considered outdated and there is the risk that geopolitical tensions will keep the risk of flare-ups in energy prices high for more than 2023. The Confcommercio analysis shows that at the end of March 2023, the wholesale price of gas fell below 50 €/MWh against a 2022 average of around 130 €/MWh. But in the previous five years the price of gas in Europe had never exceeded 30 €/MWh. The same consideration for electricity which from the peaks seen in recent years, up to 700 euros per MWh at the end of March is slightly above 100 euros per MWh. In fact more than double the pre-crisis prices. According to the Confcommercio Energia Observatory it is necessary to reduce the general system charges for the electricity sector, whose incidence on the cost of the supply is over 25%. An item that weighs about 13.1 billion euros a year on the energy expenditure of Italians. Furthermore, the extension until June 2023 of the “energy” tax credits is certainly positive, the percentage of deduction envisaged for the second quarter of 2023 is absolutely insufficient.

The impact on hotels

At current prices, a small hotel sees a slight drop in electricity which settles at 3,847 euros against the 4,273 paid last February (-10%). The most significant component in the March bill continues to be the part relating to energy, which came to €1,997, and system charges – reintroduced in January 2023 for users with installed power exceeding 16.5 kW – weigh not a little on the total bill on average, a good 520€ per month. In March 2021 the cost was 2,829 euros. The cost of gas for winter heating in the 2022-2023 season is almost 11,000 euros compared to 14,000 for the previous station, but looking at the costs of the pre-war era, today we spend double that. The same considerations apply to a medium-sized hotel: in March 2023, there was a reduction in the price of the electricity bill of around 10% compared to the month of February. The system charges paid by medium-sized hotels amount to approximately 907 euros per month, while the energy component is the most significant (equal to 3,455 euros). If the comparison is moved to the same month of 2021, the bill was lower and equal to around 4,911 euros. As for spending on gas heating, more than double the cost of spending last winter than two winters ago.

Shopping for bars, restaurants and shops

New energy prices lead to slight improvements to bars. In March 2023, electricity expenditure was around 600 euros compared to 655 spent in February (-9%) and 470 euros in March 2021. The total amount of gas bills for winter 2022-2023 (from October 2022 to March 2023) was, on the other hand, 2,455 euros, a sharp reduction compared to the 3,501 paid during the winter of 2021-2022. However, if compared with the cost of gas bills paid in the winter of 2020-2021 (1,718 euros), the cost of gas consumption this winter is 43% higher. The cost of light for a restaurant stands at around one thousand euros per month (-9%) while in March 2021 781 euros were spent. on which the system costs always weigh. For gas, spending in March is 7,336 euros against 4,137 in the winter of 2020-2021. Reduction of around 10% also for large sales areas that pay a bill of 5,143 euros in March 2023 while spending was close to 3,800 euros two years ago. The gas bill, for the winter of 2022-2023, was 6,140 euros, a clear reduction compared to the 8,666 paid during the winter of 2021-2022. However, if compared with the gas bills for the winter of 2020-2021 (3,647), the cost paid this winter is 68% higher.