the new tariffs of the protected market – Corriere.it

Electricity bills halved since April. With the sharp drop in the wholesale prices of energy products, the reference price of electricity in the second quarter of 2023 is reduced by -55.3%, announced the Arera Authority. About 11.7 million domestic customers remaining in the protected market will benefit from this collapse, equal to about 39% of the total domestic users. The collapse of the tariffs takes into account the new aid regime launched by the Meloni government with a decree approved on 29 March, which enters into force on 1 April with the expiry of the support provided until 31 March and financed for the first quarter of 2023 with the large part of the resources of the Budget Law.

General charges back into the bill

By implementing the provisions of the government in the decree approved last March 28 – the note reads – Arera intervened on the general system charges, also zeroing them for the next quarter for all gas customers and confirming the enhancement of the electricity and gas social bonuses for families with an ISEE level of up to 15,000 euros (with the ISEE level for large families, with at least 4 dependent children, which rises to 30,000 euros). The general system charges are instead reactivated for all electricity customers, including domestic users.

Gas prices

Thanks to what was possible the decline? The performance of the energy markets saw wholesale gas prices drop sharply in the current quarter – specifies Arera – influenced by various factors: a reduction in European demand (-13% in 2022 compared to 2021), a limited recovery in Asian demand for LNG, the recovery in operations or new liquefaction terminals in the United States and regasification in Europe . The mild temperatures of the winter of 2022-2023 favored a limited use of European storages (still full at about 57% of their capacity in mid-March) and forward prices indicate less tense conditions for the balance of gas supply and demand in the second quarter of 2023. In this context, the forward prices of electricity also moved downwards, after the sharp drops already recorded. Already in the first quarter of 2023, based on preliminary data, the single national price of electricity (PUN) was in fact down by 36% approximately compared to the fourth quarter of 2022.

Customers

The very sharp drop in electricity tariffs is good for Absoutenti Compared to current prices, it will result in record savings on an annual basis equal to 793 euros per family. The average electricity bill on the protected market, considered for a typical household that consumes 2,700 kWh of energy per year, thus drops from the current 1,434 euros per year to 641 euros, approaching pre-crisis levels, but it is necessary to consider the return of system which, according to data released by Arera, will currently weigh around 82 euros per bill. However – analyzes Assoutenti – the new tariffs that will take effect in April are still 14% higher than those in force in the second quarter of 2021, and entailing a higher expenditure of 79 euros per year for families on the protected market compared to the same period of two years ago. We are now expecting new interventions from the government on the subject of bills, starting with a reform of system charges – says the president Furio Truzzi – item that weighs 22% on the electricity bills of Italians and includes taxes that have nothing to do with energy consumption, a real ATM to withdraw money from Italians.

Gas, new tariffs at the beginning of April

Gas rates will be updated in early April again by the Arera Authority and will relate to consumption in March, as envisaged by the new calculation system introduced in October 2022, which is retroactive and monthly. On gas – Arera also specified – there was confirmation of the 5% VAT reduction on heat management, district heating and gas. Also for gas, the negative tariff component UG2, introduced in April of last year and applied to consumption up to 5,000 sm/year, is gradually reduced and then eliminated during the second quarter of 2023. A special measure that made it possible for families and small users to counteract the peak in gas prices.

Besseghini: We are in a new phase

We are in a new and in a way still delicate phase of this very long crisis – says the president of Arera, Stefano Besseghini – . Wholesale gas prices highlight a market that has taken seriously the European effort to diversify and consolidate infrastructure. We see the signals being quickly transferred to final consumers, also thanks to a regulatory system that works. We must not lose focus on the commitments made and on the implementation of the choices made.