Politics talks about bills, but the electric companies will have to give back to the users more than 9 million euros as a penalty for i sudden power outages of 2020. The Italian electricity service is improving, but despite the good data on minors power outages, citizens still endure hardships. The Energy Authority said the number of unannounced power outages dropped last year. The average duration of low voltage blackouts is also down, from 86 minutes in 2019 to 66 last year (-20%).
Bad weather hasn't always been the cause of the breakdowns. On average, 25 minutes of interruptions are due to causes not attributable to the distributors and 41 minutes are instead the fault of the companies. A structural imbalance, costly and unsatisfactory for families, small businesses and artisans, which will only heal with new investments. Important in this regard are those announced by Terna and by Enel in the respective strategic plans, in addition to what is included in the Pnrr.
In the territorial subdivision of electricity blackouts, the South had the worst performance, with an average of 56 minutes of darkness, against 29 in the North and 43 in the Centre. Crime has also had a hand in it, stealing thousands of meters of copper wire from the lines. Since the introduction of the rewards and penalties mechanism, things have been a little better, but there are still many protests from families and small entrepreneurs and consumer associations often intervene.
Last year 27 companies with at least 15 low voltage users received premiums for 38,4 million euro. “E-Distribuzione, on the other hand, represents almost all of the penalties with 8,4 million euros and 2,6 million associated with failure to comply with the maintenance levels for interruptions with notice”, explains Arera. Still E-Distribuzione, however, collected the highest net premium, equal to 33,5 million euro. Different contexts, obviously, which must push companies to maximize investments to prevent blackouts.
Will there be power outages in the future that will jeopardize the economic recovery? Not at all, says a report the winter outlook of Entso-E, the European organization of electricity companies. The document also denies the Italian Minister of Economic Development, Giancarlo Giorgetti, who had spoken of a possible blackout throughout Europe due to energy supplies. Excessive fears represented on a couple of occasions and linked to the positions of the League on expensive bills. The European market, the distributors argue on the contrary, is ready to face any supply difficulties. Power plants will go on with very few interruptions: the greatest risks, at present, concern France, Ireland and Malta.
