Good news for users who still benefit from tariffs with greater protection: the Government is opening up towards one extension – yet another – for the transition from the protected market al free market for electricity and gas bills. “It is an evaluation that we are making in recent days,” declared Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin. According to what Il Messaggero reports, among the hypotheses there is also that of granting from six months up to a year of extra time to the less well-off and particularly numerous families who meet the requirements to access the social bonus. However, in Energy decree approved last week no extension is included by the Council of Ministers. And the last date to make the transition remains set - at least for the moment - in January for gas and in April for electricity.
Electricity and gas bills: what happens now?
Today there are around 9 million Italians who benefit from the tariffs with greater protection on light bills, while those who benefit from it amount to over 6 million gas. Those who do not make the transition to the free market within the established times will have the possibility of joining the gradual protection service, which will have a maximum duration of three years and which has already been introduced for SMEs and micro-enterprises. Those who request gradual protection will automatically be assigned a new supplier, identified through a local auction, and the contractual conditions will be similar to those of the Placet offers (free price with equivalent protection conditions) provided for the “vulnerable” categories. The quote I like it they are halfway between the protected and free markets.
Abolition of the protected market: when (and if) will the extension arrive?
It transpires from sources at the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security that the topic will be at the center of the next Council of Ministers or at the latest. Arera, meanwhile, has announced in recent days that the electricity bills will increase for the protected market by 18,6% in the fourth quarter compared to July-September. But if you look at the same period last year, there was a decline of 57%. According to the Authority, the gas bill is also destined to increase. In the Energy decree, the government extended to the fourth quarter the elimination of system charges on the gas bill, the 5% VAT on methane and the electricity social bonus (Isee up to 15 thousand euros or up to 30 thousand euros for families numerous with at least four dependent children).
