The enhanced protection regime remains more favorable than the free market. This is what emerges from a study published today by Assoutenti and the Center for Consumer Education and Research (Crc), which aims to understand how offers have evolved a month after the end of the protected gas market.
Fixed price quotes
The investigation carried out by the two institutions takes into account offers submitted on the Arera portal as of February 9, 2024, for both fixed-price and variable-price contracts in 20 main Italian cities for a typical family consuming 1,400 cubic meters of gas. per year for cooking, heating and hot water.
The first fact to emerge is that no offers for fixed price contracts are currently more advantageous than the protected regime and therefore the rates applied to those falling into the ‘vulnerability’ category. There are over 200 fixed-price offers available in each city, and considering only the best offers from operators in various provinces, the biggest annual spend by those who choose the free market is on average +188.6 euros (+12,000,000) per year. 2% compared to protection.
Variable rate contracts are more suitable (for now).
Things change, but not too much, if we examine the variable price quotes: in this case the cost of gas is indexed to market prices and therefore varies from month to month. As we read in the survey, in each of the 20 Italian cities studied (out of an average of more than 480 offers per province) only 5 offers are now more affordable than the bills paid by sensitive customers; Except at least. 7 offers more affordable offers. It is worth saying that in this case the savings in the protected regime are minimal: on average 43 euros less in annual expenses (-2.8%).
Assoutenti: “The end of the protected market did not trigger virtuous competition”
But according to Assoutenti, the results of the study are abundantly clear. “The data show us that the end of the protected gas market does not trigger any virtuous competition in favor of consumers,” explains Gabriele Melluso, president of the association. “Fixed-price contracts are still not advantageous because companies are reluctant to engage with their customers, given the strong variability of prices in energy markets, while truly advantageous offers for variable contracts can be counted on the fingers of one hand and are quite reasonable below expectations.”
“A month after the end of the protected market, the situation for families has not changed much,” adds Furio Truzzi, head of the Center for Consumer Education and Research (Crc). “In January – explains Truzzi – in each city there were 3 offers more favorable than the protected regime, today we are only at 5: so the goal of benefiting families has not been achieved and indeed we are witnessing that the stabilization of economic conditions offered to consumers and this defeats the purpose of stopping the protected market removal”.
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.
