Energy, bills up 83%: Ivrea asks local parliamentarians for help

The Municipality cannot approve the budget. “We need a national fund so as not to cut services”

IVREA

An appeal to the parliamentarians of the Canavese to help the municipalities in the difficult management of skyrocketing energy costs. The document, discussed last night (Tuesday 21) in the city council, was presented by the majority groups of Lega Salvini, Forza Ivrea, Together for Ivrea, Cambiamo Ivrea and Mixed Group. The aim is to raise the awareness of Parliament in the approval of the amendment to the budget law proposed by the Anci which provides for a refreshment in favor of the Municipalities for 2022 following the increase in energy costs.

This increase in Ivrea effectively prevents the approval of next year’s budget which, according to initial estimates, should have been closed by 31 December. “The increases in energy costs for the Municipality of Ivrea – say the majority councilors – only for municipal users have caused an increase in expenditure for the year 2022 equal to 258,000 euros for energy during the preparation of the budget forecasts electricity and 255,000 for heating costs ». In detail: electricity costs for municipal buildings in 2021 amounted to 308 thousand euros, with an estimated increase of 83% in 2022. Heating costs in 2021 amounted to 711 and the estimated increase exceeds 35%. “To these numbers we must add – comments the councilor for the budget Elisabetta Piccoli – the increases in expenditure on public lighting (507 thousand euros in 2021), not yet estimated by the offices, but which will inevitably undergo a significant increase”.

In the budget change that arrived in the Council last night, it was asked to allocate a sum of about 250 thousand euros just for electricity with great urgency. An indispensable variation to launch the calls for the renewal of contracts expiring on the 31st of this month.

Ivrea is not the only municipality to find itself in this situation. The mayor of Bollengo, Luigi Ricca, wrote to Prime Minister Mario Draghi explaining the difficulty of small administrations in managing these increases.

The Anci amendment to the 2022 budget law provides for a national fund of 550 million euros to be distributed among all the municipalities on the basis of the resulting costs for 2019, as well as the estimate of the foreseeable increases for 2022. The fund will make it possible to shelter Municipalities from increases, freeing them from the need to identify means of coverage that in many cases cannot be found without a reduction in the services offered to citizens.