ROME. Gas bills down sharply in January for families still in protection. On the basis of the average performance of the Italian wholesale market in January 2023 and for consumption in the same month, for the standard family under protection there is a decrease of 34.2% in the bill compared to December 2022. component of the gas price to cover procurement costs (CMEMm), applied to customers still in the protected market, is updated by Arera as a monthly average of the price on the Italian wholesale market (the PSV day ahead) and published within the first 2 days working days of the month following the reference month. For the month of January, which recorded a significantly lower average wholesale price than that of the month of December, the price of the gas raw material (CMEMm), for customers with contracts under protected conditions, is equal to 68 .37 euros/MWh.
The reduction for the month of January, in terms of final effects, explains Arera, still does not fully compensate for the high price levels achieved in the last year, with gas expenditure for the typical family in the rolling year (February 2022 -January 2023) which is approximately 1,769 euros, +36% compared to the equivalent 12 months of the previous year (February 2021- January 2022). It should be remembered that, as required by the ‘Budget Law’, for the first quarter of 2023 Arera has already zeroed the general system charges also for gas. The negative UG2 component for gas consumption up to 5,000 sm3/year and the 5% VAT reduction on gas were also confirmed.
«Excellent news, but the emergency remains! If, firstly thanks to the warmest winter ever in many EU countries and then to the gas price ceiling, now families, now on their last legs, can breathe a sigh of relief, the bills remain heart attack compared to the times normal, unsustainable for too many Italians» says Marco Vignola, head of the energy sector of the National Consumer Union. the total expenditure in 2023 (not, therefore, according to the rolling year, but from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023, assuming constant prices) remains at the stellar figure of 1391 euros, which added to the 1434 of the light already taken , determine a total sting of 2825 euros.