A new definition is also making its way in Friuli Venezia Giulia: it is that of energy poverty, indicating that even in our region there are more and more families in difficulty, due to the high bills. If the official estimates speak of 80 thousand households that are unable to regularly use the heating system in the winter and the cooling system in the summer, it is the data from the Adiconsum counters that make your wrists tremble. Yes, because since the energy crisis broke out, more than a thousand people have turned to the Cislin consumer association and the photography that emerged, and presented during today’s round table promoted by Cisl Fvg and Adiconsum, leaves no way out: 1 out of 2 it is unable to cope with the rise in energy costs.
“It is a situation that worries us enormously – comments the secretary of the CISL Fvg, Renata Della Ricca – and which has very serious consequences both on the well-being of people and on social inclusion, considering the high risk of marginalization. The numbers collected by our consumer association leave little doubt about the seriousness of the situation and even if, in the national context, the Northeast seems to pay a smaller social bill, the phenomenon of high bills is now a cause of crisis and difficulty for the vast majority. of families, not to mention the death of entrepreneurial activities in particular linked to crafts and trade “. Therefore, the numbers presented in preview by Adiconsum Fvg, by the president Giuseppe De Martino, take a real picture of the state of affairs. Of the thousand accesses to the association’s counters, located throughout the region, it emerges that 1 user out of 2 is economically in difficulty with respect to the rising costs of energy, so much so as to request assistance with respect to the payment of bills, access to bonus, verification of invoices and interruption of supplies; 1 out of 4 users asks for support on changing contractual conditions, while 1 out of 10 has to deal with other types of problems, such as, for example, the functioning of the meters and delays in connecting the meters.
“Our audience of consumers – explains De Martino – is very varied, but what leaps to the eye is that the biggest problems concern those over 65 with low pensions and large families and that this problem affects the dignity of people, with users who would like to do it on their own but are forced to ask for help with great discomfort. And it is true that the reasons for the difficulties are linked to disposable income, but what we detect at our counters is a general anger on the management of the energy issue, with most consumers considering the answers given by the Government late and insufficient and that behind the expensive bills there are speculative maneuvers implemented on the skin of the weakest “. What is certain is that in addition to buffer interventions, solutions are needed on the energy issue starting from the issues of decoupling the cost of energy produced with sources other than gas and energy autonomy. Returning to the requests, all in absolute increase, they can be summarized as follows: 20% of users ask for information on the change of supplier and on the passage from the free to the protected market or vice versa; 5% go to the counters to check the bills received.
There is, in fact, much more distrust than bills, while cases of so-called innocent arrears are growing, with the threat of posting due to delays or non-payments (5%); 20% of users, on the other hand, ask for support for access to bonuses and installments and another 20% for the unilateral change of contractual conditions and for the change of supplier not requested by the customer, an incorrect practice implemented by call centers paid by the supplier companies and in open violation of the privacy regulations. The rest of the requests concern, as mentioned, problems of another nature such as connections.
“As far as we are concerned – urges the general secretary of CISL Fvg, Alberto Monticco – we not only believe it necessary to take a picture of the current situation, but above all enter into the merits of the key issue, namely the energy transition which, in our opinion, must take into consideration all types of renewable energy. It is then necessary to accelerate the authorization process of the CERs, or rather the renewable energy communities, which otherwise lack operations and contextualize the programs and the resources of the PNRR on this specific issue “.
The national President of Adiconsum, Carlo De Masi, also delves into the requests addressed to the new government on the energy issue, reporting the 5 main claims: the suspension of secondments for arrears, today largely linked to situations of profound hardship and poverty; the increase in bonuses for energy, gas and water and the enlargement of the beneficiaries, through the raising of the ISEE thresholds, together with the establishment of a Fund to combat the rampant energy poverty; the reform of the bill, reducing the tax and parafiscal burdens, and of the energy price formation system, considering the weighted average of the costs of the various sources and decoupling electricity and gas, to more effectively combat speculation; an industrial and energy policy aimed at relaunching investments in renewable sources and storage technologies, adopting measures to support the development of energy communities; an extraordinary national plan to support families and businesses, together with the clarification and strengthening of the super-taxation tools for extra-profits above a certain threshold created by large energy companies and other companies in sectors such as pharmaceutical, financial, credit and e-commerce.
The economist Leonardo Becchetti and the president of the èNostra Cooperative, Sara Capuzzo, took part in the meeting via video link. The round table, preceded by a speech by the regional councilor for Productive Activities Sergio Emidio Bini, was attended by the national president of Adiconsum, Carlo De Masi, the president of Anci Fvg, Dorino Favot and for Ape, Regional Energy Agency, Massimiliano Zampieri. During the meeting there was also talk of energy communities and renewable sources and the need for a cultural change with respect to the energy theme, projected towards sustainability. And, in particular, Professor Becchetti who brought attention to the problem of the release of authorizations. According to Terna, in fact, in Italy there are currently 280 GigaWatts of sustainable energy projects awaiting authorization. Also for the economist there are 5 references to politics: the recognition of renewable energies, the acceleration of permits, the fastest possible launch of the implementing decrees relating to the Energy Communities, a national renewable energy plan on public buildings and recognition by of the Regions of the areas suitable for sustainable energy plants.