Electricity and gas bills drop in the second quarter of 2022 but the bill remains very high. Arera does it: the average Italian family will pay 1.652 euros in a year - from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022 - for gas, 71% more than in the previous 12 months. In the case of electricity, the annual expenditure rises to 948 euros, +83%. This is the sad balance of the surge recorded by gas, necessary to produce 60% of the electricity we consume, first as a result of the post-Covid recovery and then of the war in Ukraine.
The government has taken action against speculation in the gas markets. And this allowed Arera to reduce bills in the second quarter, as announced. The main change - this time - is that the reduction will affect both consumers who are still on the protected market (whose prices are precisely set every quarter by the Authority) and, in part, those who have switched to the free market (where prices instead they are established between the parties).
Electricity bills, a drop of 10,2%
The electricity bill for families in enhanced protection registers the first reduction for 18 months. The drop in electricity, which recorded a peak of 587,67 €/MWh on 8 March, is partly due to the freeze on system charges financed by the State with the decree of 1 March (3 billion which have been added to the previous 1,8 already allocated) and in part by the network tariffs which have remained unchanged. Above all, the price of energy decreased by 8,9% and, to a small extent, the cost of dispatching. From April 1 From April 1, 2022, the reference price of electricity for the typical customer will be 41,34 euro cents per kilowatt hour, taxes included.
Gas bills, a 10% drop
The case of gas is more complex. “In an objectively extraordinary situation, with an ongoing conflict and volatility never seen before on the energy markets – he says Stefano Besseghini, president of ARERA - and in the light of the greater responsibilities for verification and control attributed to it, the Authority has decided to adopt extraordinary measures in favor of consumers, both for the protected and for the free market".
And so the Authority has modified a tariff component, reducing gas costs to the benefit of all customers (both on the regulated and free markets) and which applies to all those who do not exceed 5 kilo cubic meters of annual consumption. In class, therefore, small businesses. The aforementioned March decree also reduced the VAT on gas to 5% for the months of April, May and June. This has made it possible to "lighten the bill for almost 30 million domestic users and over 6 million businesses", states the Authority.
Light and gas bills, extended bonuses
Among the other interventions decided by the government and implemented by Arera is the strengthening of the social bonus for 1,2 million more families. This is made possible by the financial guarantees (400 million) guaranteed to cover the cost of expanding the Isee limit from 1 April to 31 December 2022. The Isee roof went from 8.265 to 12.000 euros which become 20.000 in the case of families with more than 3 children. To access the bonus you have to ask for the ISEE from INPS or a Caf and the discount will come directly into your bill. The families who will be able to take advantage of it have become 3 million for the electricity bonus and 2 million for the gas bonus.
