Electricity bill: the deadline to switch from protected market to that sweeper slide again. The Milleproroghe decree moved the deadline for the third time, postponing Day X to 2023st January XNUMX (previously it had passed from 2018 to 2020 July 2022 and then again to the beginning of XNUMX). By this date, consumers and micro-enterprises that currently benefit from the enhanced protection regime - in which tariffs and contractual conditions are established by the Regulatory Authority for Energy, Networks and the Environment (Arera) - will have to switch to the market liberalised, where prices are determined by competition between private operators. Let us try to clarify some points of this operation.
1) WHO IS THE NEW DATE FOR?
The deadline of January 2023, XNUMX applies to individual users, families and for micro enterprises who have energy contracts with power up to 15 kilowatts (by micro-enterprise we mean a company with less than 10 employees and an annual turnover not exceeding two million euros). In all, according to calculations by the Arera, the affected users are around 15 million. This means that over half of the total (36,5 million) is already under the free market regime.
2) WHAT HAPPENS TO THOSE WHO DON'T MEET THE DEADLINE?
Don't worry: those who won't switch to the free market by 2023 there is no risk of supply interruption of electricity. However, there is no lack of concern: so far, no "transition procedure" has been established for households and micro-enterprises in the event of failure to pass by the deadline. This procedure, on the other hand, already exists for small and micro-enterprises over 15 kilowatts, which had tighter deadlines, having to switch to the free market by January 2021, 15. It is possible that in the end the Ministry of Economic Development, which is responsible for the decision , choose to replicate the same scheme also for domestic customers and micro-enterprises under XNUMX kilowatts. The mechanism has two stages:
Phase one. Upon expiry of the enhanced protection regime, if the passage to the free market has not yet taken place, one automatically enters the Gradual Protection Service. For the first six months, the operator remains the same, but an offer similar to the type offers is activated on the contract I like it (Free price under equivalent protection conditions), in which the price is determined by the seller and Arera's contractual conditions.
Phase two. At the end of the six months, those who have not yet switched to the free market may be forced to change their reference company. In fact, the Arera assign an operator selected through (reverse) auctions organized by geographical area. The conditions of the contract remain those of the offers I like it which we talked about in Phase One. The price, on the other hand, changes: "Compared to the provisional assignment - reads the Arera website - the price paid by end customers will also depend on the level of parameters offered by each operator of the Gradual Protection Service in each territorial area of assignment of the service" .
3) WHAT DOES THE TRANSITION TO THE FREE MARKET INVOLVE?
In hindsight, the only stress for users is the choice. To be sure of saving – or at least not losing out – it is necessary to compare the offers of the various operators and establish which one is the most suitable for your needs. There's no shortage of time, so don't be pressured by salespeople over the phone. Once that decision is made, the transition is painless: activation of free market contracts It's free e the procedure bureaucracy is the responsibility of the new supplier, who gets in touch with the old one to have him issue the closing bill. during the procedure delivery is never interrupted of electricity to users.
For more information you can contact the Consumer door of Arera.
