In 2024, for every user who returned to the protected energy market, almost 20 flew to the free market, despite the absence of a real economic advantage. This is Assoutenti’s calculation, which on the occasion of the end of the greater protection regime makes known some relating to the electricity market in Italy.
In 2024, just 32,946 energy users returned from the free market to the protected one, compared to the 644 thousand consumers certified by Arera who, between January and June, instead switched to the free market.
The cause of this disproportion, according to consumers, is “the flop of the information campaign on gradual protections, which started in May with a serious delay and with negligible funds (1 million euros allocated with the energy decree)”.
On the occasion of the end of the protected electricity market, Assoutenti further explains, there was also a final rush on the part of energy companies which, in an attempt to grab new customers, modified their offers, with a return to fixed price contracts.
Analyzing the results of the last week of the Offers Portal made available by Arera and Acquirente Unico, the best fixed-price offer for a “typical” domestic user with a consumption of 2,700 kWh per year and 3 kW of committed power, presents a bill of 677.68 euros per year, an offer that is the same throughout the country, dedicated specifically to those coming from the Maggior Tutela regime, which fixes the price of the energy component for 24 months. For variable-price contracts, however, the best offer for the same “typical” user sees an average annual bill of 703.93 euros. The fixed price, considering only the best offer present on the dedicated Portal, therefore allows an average saving of approximately 26.3 euros per year compared to the variable.
“After years in which energy companies preferred to protect themselves from possible new tensions on the energy price front by applying very high tariffs on fixed-price contracts, today we are witnessing a reversal of the trend which, although modest – explains the honorary president and head of energy of Assoutenti, Furio Truzzi – demonstrates that there is ample room for a reduction in tariffs on the free market which in March, according to Arera data, were on average 47.7% higher than those of the protected market”.
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