Reliability and sustainability, including economic sustainability: the initiatives in favor
This October, Enel and Fratello Sole – a non-profit consortium company that deals with sustainability and to which third sector entities belong – have signed a memorandum of understanding. Objective: the contrast to the energy povertywith the support of religious bodies and non-profit organizations already engaged in the ecological transition and which, on a daily basis, help families in difficulty.
Among the actions envisaged by the protocol:
- the promotion of Renewable Energy Communities (CER), which bring together parishes, religious associations and social cooperatives to share the energy produced from renewable sources;
- the mapping of energy poverty through a digital platform, to identify possible interventions to support fragility;
- moments of training, to sensitize the stakeholder on the economic and social benefits of energy communities;
- specific projects for the South, where the number of families in difficulty is higher;
- initiatives related to electric and shared mobility.
In fact, according to an Ipsos research presented in early December, about the 60% of citizens and the 56% of companies declare themselves inclined to be part of a CER, while l’85% of the diocesan representatives believe that the energy communities can have a positive effect on the renewable energy produced in Italy.
The protocol therefore goes beyond assistance, involving people in the energy transition and transforming them from consumers into renewable energy producersto make them protagonists of sustainability, including economic sustainability, free from need and also from foreign dependence on gas.
“With this agreement we want to help fight energy poverty in our country together with those who, day by day, are alongside the weakest” (Nicola Lanzetta, Director of Enel Italy)
“New ideas, concrete projects and unprecedented synergies to give quick and effective answers to many of our fellow citizens who really see their present and their future at risk” (Fabio Gerosa, President of Fratello Sole)
An important step forward, at a time when – according to the report of the Italian Observatory on Energy Poverty – well 2.2 million households Italians cannot afford the costs for heating. And, this, after a 2021 that had put about 9 million peopleespecially in the southern regions. In October 2022, 4.7 million Italians declare that they have missed the payment of one or more bills and, another 3.3 million, of being unable to pay in the event of further increases. With almost 2 out of 3 Italians for the first time not up to date with the bills, a sign that energy poverty it is widening.
The protocol signed with Brother Sun is part of a process undertaken by Enel also with the project “Solidarity energy”, which intends to allocate part of the renewable energy produced by a plant to be built to families in difficulty residing in that Municipality. With coverage of electricity bills – total or partial and for a certain period – to support those who really need it. A way to give support and protect the resident population in the Municipality affected by the construction of the plant, with a view to an energy transition that leaves no one behind.
Route confirmed this December 15 with the signing of another protocol agreement between Enel and the Observatory for International Transdisciplinary Policies, which aims to translate the principles of Social Doctrine of the Church and ofEncyclical “Laudato si” in actions capable of generating social, economic and environmental value. “The choice of sustainable solutions for the production and consumption of energy – declared Nicola Lanzetta, Director of Enel Italia – does not concern only the good of the environment, but also that of people and the economy. This protocol proposes to give a concrete implementation to the use of the technological innovations we have as tools for social inclusion”.