The expensive bill brings the debate on the end of the protected energy market back to the fore. “The now out of control increases in the values of energy raw materials, which have reached abnormal levels in recent months due to the continuing war in Ukraine, make it necessary to extend the deadline for overcoming the price protection regime”, warns Confcommercio in this regard. the deadline set for January 2023 for gas and January 2024 for electricity, underlining that “the average price of offers in the free market has grown by 78% compared to a year ago” and that “the protected market offers greater price guarantees” .
Consumer protests
Protests are also being raised by consumers: “the Government should intervene immediately. According to the latest Istat data available, for light a family goes from + 57.3% of the protected person to + 135.9% of the free one, more than double », says Massimiliano Dona (Unc). “In short – he warns – the end of the protected market must be postponed not only for micro-enterprises but also for families”. The end of the protected gas market scheduled for 1 January 2023 must at least be aligned with that of electricity, scheduled instead for 10 January 2024 »concludes Dona. The passage essentially consists in the possibility of freely choosing the seller and the conditions for buying electricity or methane gas.
Greater guarantees for citizens and businesses
One of the most marked differences consists in the fact that while in the protected energy market the tariffs are decided by the sector authority, in the free market the user will negotiate the tariffs with the supplier. Codacons asks for this passage to be overcome. “As highlighted by Arera itself – states the association – for electricity only 8.85% of the offers available on the free market were cheaper than the higher protection regime, a percentage that rises to 14.58% of the offers for gas. And those who now have contracts at prices blocked on the free market started before the outbreak of the energy emergency, will suffer astronomical price increases at the imminent expiry of the offers. To avoid chaos and offer greater guarantees to citizens and businesses, the new government will necessarily have to block the end of the protected energy market, a measure on which Arera herself has expressed strong doubts in recent days ”, concludes Codacons.
The initiatives of companies and banks
Meanwhile, initiatives by companies and banks continue to support families and small entrepreneurs. Intesa Sanpaolo is making an additional € 8 billion available to help families cope with increases, from the increase in electricity and gas bills to the higher cost of consumer goods. With this intervention, the aid package allocated by the bank amounts to 30 billion euros.
IP and the trade organizations of the operators (Faib Confesercenti, Fegica and Figisc Confcommercio) have instead signed today an agreement to deal, together, with the expensive bills. The Group will essentially support the Operators in dealing with the increase in energy costs of the service areas owned by IP. Thousands of small entrepreneurs who manage the distributors owned by the group will be protected, to which the company will recognize a contribution calculated on the basis of the difference between the energy costs of 2021 and 2022 already before the end of the year.