The protected electricity and gas market is expected to end at the beginning of 2024, or perhaps not, because the Meloni government is working on an extension to delay the transition to the free market by at least six months (and up to a year). What changes and what can happen in a few months? Let’s go in order. Users benefiting from the tariffs of the protected electricity and gas market, where prices are determined by Arera (the regulatory authority for energy, networks and the environment), will soon have to switch to the free market. Currently, the transition for domestic gas will take place on January 10, 2024, and for electricity in April. The transition affects about a third of total Italian users, that is, about 15 million users who pay their bills according to the tariffs of the protected regime. Currently, only customers who are considered vulnerable are exempt from the transition to the free market, where contract conditions are determined by operators without reference to Arera: that is, anyone over 75 years of age, in a state of disaster or objective economic hardship (already receiving electricity and gas social bonuses) or disabled. The doors of the free market will be opened for everyone. Yes but when?
There is also the possibility of extension: The expected postponement could be from six months to a year. According to reports reporterHypotheses being examined by the government include granting an additional year to the less wealthy and especially to the large number of families at the limit of access to the social bonus (up to 15 thousand euros or up to 30 thousand euros for large families with at least four dependent children). . The issue needs to be discussed in detail at the next meeting of the Council of Ministers, or perhaps at the next meeting. And it could make this extension, currently just a hypothesis, official. Also recently, Minister of Environment and Energy Security Gilberto Pichetto Fratin said: skytg24 which is “an assessment we are making these days”.
“The removal of the protected energy and gas market will be accompanied by a number of open critical issues,” warns Federconsumatori. Therefore, we believe that this would be necessary and prudent, given the difficult situation that families are in and the situation that families are in. strong increases will extend the protected market for a reasonable period of time”. Meanwhile, Codacons made two calculations. “With the new tariffs stated by Arera, a typical family’s electricity expenditure in this quarter will increase by approximately 20 euros on an annual basis, bringing the electricity bill to 764 euros,” the association said.
Meanwhile, Arera recently announced that electricity bills for the protected market will increase by 18.6% in the fourth quarter of the year compared to July-September. But if you look at the same period last year, there was a decrease of 57 percent. Arera’s natural gas bill is also expected to increase. For now, the government has intervened with the energy decree, which extends the elimination of system charges on the gas bill, the 5% VAT on methane and the electricity social bonus until the fourth quarter.
Continue reading on Today.it…
Source: Today IT

Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.