On Friday, the EU's plan to deal with the gas emergency will be discussed at the EU Council of Energy Ministers. It is a series of measures to bring down the price of gas and then that ofelectricity. At the top of the list is the introduction of a price cap: we talk about 35 € per megawatt hour for Russian methane and by 200 € for electricity produced from alternative sources (renewables, coal, nuclear, oil). In this second case, the excess amount will be retained extra profit and therefore can be targeted at vulnerable households and businesses. So far, only waiting for the measure has done drop the price of gas by over 35% in one week, from 340 to 213 euros.
The operators, therefore, seem to take the Brussels projects more seriously than Putin's threats, who assured Wednesday that Moscow will no longer supply oil, gas or coal to countries that accept the introduction of the price cap.
Price cap: EU unanimity is not needed
The number one of the Kremlin aims to break the European front, but on this road he encounters a procedural obstacle. The European Commission, making use of Article 122 of the Treaty, it will not need a unanimous vote, as those on energy are "temporary and emergency" measures. The predictable will thus be defused opposition from Hungary, which continues to sign supply contracts with Gazprom, and will also block the Dutch discontent, which risks losing the current central role of the TTF, the Amsterdam gas exchange.
Bills: the Aid Ter Decree is coming
Meanwhile, energy will also be discussed today in the Italian Council of Ministers. The government must establish the amount of aid to support businesses and households on the bills front: the electricity bonus will take effect from October XNUMXst, the gas one from November XNUMXst. Since the executive is in charge only for current affairs, the new Aid decree ter it will have to pass immediately to Parliament to obtain the green light for the use of the allocated resources (in addition to 10 billion). However, there will be no other budget slippages, because the money will come from higher tax revenues (about 30 billion since the beginning of the year).
Savings and rationing
Also, next week the government will present the “mandatory” measures to save energy, which will be accompanied to those "recommended" already disclosed by the Ministry of Energy Transition and which according to Enea could guarantee savings of 600 euros per year per family. In addition to National plan for the containment of consumption already launched, Minister Roberto Cingolani is also studying the possibility of paying bills by installments and continues to negotiate with Confindustria for an agreed rationing plan for businesses.
