These are the last days for the protected electricity market. The first of July changes everything, or almost everything. But few Italians know this. At least this is what emerges from a survey commissioned by Facile.it to the mUp Research and Bilendi institutes: one consumer in 4, or 11 million individuals, does not even know about the end of the greater protection regime. Another curious fact is that relating to the 4.5 million Italians who even declare that they do not even know whether their contract is under a protected regime or on the free market.
What to do?
But what happens from July 1st?
- domestic customers NOT vulnerablewho have not signed an offer with a free market seller, will automatically switch, without any interruption of supply, to the Gradual Protection Service (STG) with the reference operator identified during the auction phase, depending on the national territory. The contractual and economic conditions of the Gradual Protection Service are defined by theARERA, the Authority that supervises the energy sector, also on the basis of the outcomes of the insolvency proceedings; the transitional regime managed by STG will have a temporary duration, just under 3 years, and will guarantee customers an indexed tariff, therefore linked to the trend in the price of raw materials;
- vulnerable domestic customers, identified pursuant to the legislation, will be able to continue to be served under contractual and economic conditions defined and updated by the Authority.
But who are the customers?vulnerable”? Those over 75, recipients of the electricity bonus or users of law 104, those who have life-saving electricity-powered medical equipment, those who live in an area affected by calamitous events or on a smaller, non-interconnected island.
The self-declaration
Those who are part of the group of “vulnerable” customers, in order to continue to have the conditions envisaged by the protected market, will have to present the self-declaration and send it via one of the following channels:
- via email to [email protected]
- via the web, via the documentation submission page
- by post according to the channels indicated on the bill. Arera has envisaged a gradual process to give everyone the opportunity to choose the offer on the free market best suited to their needs, while ensuring continuity of supply and adequate information obligations for sellers.
The least informed
In this transition phase the least informed about the end of greater protection regime – we read in the survey carried out by Facile.it – they turned out to be those under 34, among whom the percentage exceeds 36% and residents of Central Italy (33%). It is curious to note how there is less awareness of this deadline in medium-sized centers (29% for municipalities between 30 thousand and 100 thousand residents), compared to large cities (26%). The most informed are consumers who live in small municipalities (here only 23% declare they do not know about the end of the protection). The investigation also photographed the behaviors adopted by Italians in view of this historic transition.
Although the majority of those interviewed said they had already moved to the free market, almost 3 million people now in the protected market, although aware of the term, have not yet decided how to behave. The most confused are those aged 55-64, among whom the percentage rises to 16% compared to a national average of 10%. What do the Italians intend to do between now and June 30th? Of those in the protected market, 23% intend to move to the free market, while just over half of the sample said they will remain in the greater protection regime so as to automatically enter the new system of gradual protection.
But there are also those who intend to do the opposite route; just over 2 million Italians have declared that they want to return to the protected market before its end, so as to benefit from the tariffs of the gradual protection service.
