MILAN. The collapse in the price of gas has eased electricity and gas bills, which have fallen by about 16% in recent months, but the stop to discounts and the cancellation of system charges, which will almost certainly start on March 31st, will make them rise again by more than about 40%.
Thus, if on the one hand the trend in gas prices which have collapsed in recent days in the 45 euro area per Mwh from the peaks in August to 350 euro has rewarded the pockets of families, with the end of aid the price increases will return again. As communicated last week by Arera, the Energy Authority, in February the gas bill for families on the protected market fell by 13% compared to the previous month. For light in the first quarter of 2023 the reduction is 19.5%.
In the first quarter, the measures to support bills cost the government around 4.5 billion with 3 billion deriving from discounts, one billion related to lower VAT revenues and 500 million were directed towards zeroing general system costs . The government will hardly find new means.
What will happen at the end of the month? «As far as gas is concerned, if all the discounts and concessions in force today were not extended, the average bill would rise by 703.53 euros per year per family – calculates Furio Truzzi, president of Assoutenti -. A leap that would bring the average annual bill to 1,913.53 euros per nucleus, against today’s annual average of 1,210 euros (at current tariffs)». The expert explains that the gas bill would thus rise by more than 58% compared to what is paid today.
“For electricity, on the other hand, the reintroduction of charges and VAT would cost 386.37 euros per year per family, bringing the average expenditure to 1,820.34 euros per year per household,” explains Truzzi. This would be a 27% increase compared to today’s values.
All this while the energy emergency is not over. According to the IEA (International Energy Agency), with the upcoming winter and the strong demand of a growing China again, gas prices could rise again. “The Government must not only extend the zeroing of system charges which will expire on March 31st at all costs, but must work to arrive at a definitive elimination of this absurd taxation which weighs 12.4 billion euros a year on the energy expenditure of Italians». This was stated by Codacons, which appealed to the Meloni government.
«We believe that system charges should be completely abolished, since a large part of them serves to finance expenses that have nothing to do with users’ energy consumption – explains the president of Codacons Carlo Rienzi – Within the item charges system bills, in fact, we find heavy taxes to cover technological and industrial development, nuclear safety, territorial compensation, support for system research and even special tariff regimes for the universal rail service and goods».