How much does smart working weigh on your electricity and gas bills? A question that many Italians who work from home have begun to ask due to recent soaring energy prices that not even the Government, through repeated interventions (next coming soon), is managing to compensate.
Smart working pre and post pandemic
In fact, before the pandemic, we spent most of our day in the office. Covid quickly turned the world of work upside down, forcing millions of people to work remotely to respect the rules of distancing and avoid the danger of contagion. A reality that is also visible in the percentages: if before the pandemic smart working concerned only 11% of workers, in 2021 we reached 32,5%. A condition destined to last for the 'Smart Working Observatory of the School of Management of the Milan Polytechnic, according to which smart working will remain in 89% of large companies and 62% of the Public Administration, with hybrid formulas, i.e. some days in the office, others at home. In numbers: 4,38 million workers (+8%) will continue to operate remotely for a few days a week: 2,03 million in large companies, 700 thousand in SMEs, 970 thousand in micro-enterprises and 680 thousand in the PA.
Smart working and expensive bills
Working remotely also means consuming more. We need electricity to power our devices, heating, gas for lunch and so on.
Part of the electricity and gas costs that were previously borne by the company now have to be paid by us. This does not mean that we necessarily spend more, but that part of the expenses we used to face for transport, for lunch and so on have now been transferred to bills, causing an increase in the cost of household utilities. And if until a few months ago we had never considered the problem, the expensive bills are forcing us to "do the math".
On the other hand, the numbers disclosed by the Arera are frightening: "in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the first quarter of 2021 there was an increase of 131% for the typical domestic electricity customer (from 20,06 to 46,03 cents euros/kWh, taxes included) and 94% for that of natural gas (from 70,66 to 137,32 euro cents per cubic metre, taxes included)”, announced the Energy Authority during the course of a Senate hearing.
How much does smart working weigh on bills?
By virtue of this – hopefully provisional – new reality, Selectra, a company that compares electricity, gas and internet offers, has analyzed the costs of smart working for Italians.
Well, according to forecasts, those who are in smart working and rely on the Enhanced Protection Service, in February 2022 will spend 57 euros more in the monthly electricity bill (+230%, for a total of 102 euros), e 159 euros more for the gas bill (+220%, for a total of 290 euros) compared to February 2021. With the free market, on the other hand, the increase will be 45,5 euros on the electricity bill and 32 euros on the gas bill.
Compared to those who returned to the office full time, "and which therefore has reduced electricity and gas consumption at weekends and for a smaller part of the day", underlines Selectra, in the current month a worker in smart working will spend 17 euros more for electricity and 39 euros more for gas with the Enhanced Protection Service. With the Free Market, on the other hand, the increases for those who are in smart working compared to those who go to the office are respectively +10 euros for electricity and +32,5 euros for gas.
