A drop in the ocean. The 5.5 billion euros allocated by the government for the first quarter of 2022 to tackle the rise in bills to the detriment of businesses and families are “completely insufficient to mitigate the additional costs that users will have to suffer this year. Against an increase in the cost of electricity and gas which for the current year amounts to a total of 89.7 billion, the coverage rate is just over 6 per cent ». This was stated by the CGIA Studies Office which estimated the energy increases relating to 2022 and, following the aid put in place by the Draghi government to “cool” prices, also the percentage reduction in price increases.
According to an estimate drawn up by the Studies Office of the mestrina association, 30.8 billion du increases will be in the hands of families and the other 58.9 billion will fall on businesses. Furthermore, the CGIA estimates that the government has fielded “only” 10.2 billion in aid and for this reason, 500,000 workers risk their jobs.
As regards households, the forecasts drawn up at the end of 2021 by Nomisma Energia were taken into consideration. Net of all the mitigation measures implemented by the executive, according to the Bolognese research institute, an average Italian family will pay a total of 1,200 euros more in 2022.
Therefore, compared to 25.7 million households in the country, the price increase for domestic users should be around 30.8 billion euros. As regards companies, however, it has been assumed that for the current year the consumption of electricity and gas will equal the same recorded in 2019 (pre-pandemic year). In addition, an average electricity tariff for businesses of € 150 per MWh has been estimated for 2022. In fact, it should be noted that the main institutions foresee a progressive (albeit not very fast) cost reduction for both electricity and gas throughout 2022.
The rise in electricity bills will therefore cost businesses € 35.8 billion this year. With reference to gas, an average tariff of 70 euros per MWh has been estimated for the current year. This hypothesis makes it possible to calculate a price increase for non-domestic users of 23 billion for 2022. Up to now, the government has approved a series of measures to mitigate the increases in energy tariffs which amount to a total of 10.2 billion: 4.7 have been disbursed for the second part of 2021, another 3.8 have been introduced with the law of the 2022 Budget to which 1.7 billion allocated yesterday by decree are added. Although the figure in absolute terms is very significant, the percentage reduction of additional costs for households and businesses expected in 2022 is still very low: as we said, it is 6 percent.
It is clear that with a public debt of 155 per cent of GDP it is difficult to increase the deficit further, but it is equally true that if new resources capable of calming energy bills are not found, many entrepreneurial activities will not keep up with the increases. This is certainly not a secondary risk considering that almost 1.8 million employees work in the energy-intensive sectors in Italy.
= Bills: Cgia, Government measures cover only 6% of price increases =