In June it increases by 3,8% compared to May the gas bill in the vulnerability protection service. This is what Arera, the Authority for Energy, Networks and the Environment, has communicated, having updated the conditions of the service gas vulnerability protection for June 2024 and communicated the value of the raw material of the service.
Gas vulnerability protection, prices
For the month of June, which saw wholesale prices rise compared to those recorded in May, the price of the gas raw material alone (CMEM,m), for customers in the vulnerability protection service, is equal to 36,11 €/MWh.
Therefore, in June 2024, the reference price of gas for the new typical customer, with average gas consumption of 1,100 cubic meters per year, is equal to 107.55 euro cents per cubic meter, +3.8% on MayThe cost of natural gas is equal to 44,95% of the expenditure for the supply of natural gas to the typical domestic user served under vulnerability protection.
In the price detail, the cost for the natural gas material includes 42.20 euro cents (equal to 39.23% of the total bill) for the supply of natural gas and related activities and 6.15 euro cents (5.72% of the total bill) for retail sales.
The expense for the transport and the meter management includes 24.53 euro cents (22.8% of the total bill) for distribution, measurement, transport, distribution equalisation and quality services. The expenditure for system charges is 2.95 euro cents (2.74% of the total bill). Then there are the taxeswith 1.73 euro cents (29.5% of the total bill).
Starting from January 2024, Arera reminds us, the gas protection service has been replaced by the vulnerability protection service, intended only for vulnerable domestic customers. Therefore, starting from January 2024, the Authority, with the same timing and methods as in previous months, will publish on the website the component of the gas price to cover supply costs applied to customers of the vulnerability protection service.
UNC: “Prices cheaper than the free market”
The reference price of gas for the vulnerable therefore rises by 3.8% from June. What is the assessment by Consumers? The National Consumers Union speaks of “zero effect, since the thermal season is over”. Compared to the protected market price of June 2021, based on the new historical series reconstructed according to the new typical customer, the price of gas is today 46.1% higher, while compared to the peak of June 2022 it is 13.3% lower.
«Despite the increase, the pieces of the Vulnerability Protection Service remain more convenient than almost all the offers currently available on the free market – comments the UNC vice president Mark Vignola – In fact, you can count on one hand the lowest prices for free than for protection and, considering the annual consumption of a typical customer, 1,100 cubic meters of gas, the saving in those cases is little more than 2 euros per year. In short, anyone who has turned 75 would do well to go to the Arera Offers Portal and compare the various prices».
According to the study by the National Consumers Union, for the typical new user who consumes 1100 cubic meters of gas, +3.8% means spending 43 euros (42.79 euros) more on an annual basis. The total expenditure over the next twelve months (not according to the sliding year, but from 1 June 2024 to 31 May 2025, assuming constant prices), thus rises to 1183 euros, which added to the 486 of the electricity of the new typical customer who consumes 2,000 kWh per year, determines a total expenditure of 1669 euros.
Codacons: the problem is gas tariffs on the free market
The increase in gas bills for the vulnerable, comments Codacons, “represents the second consecutive tariff increase, and reflects the tensions recorded on the international energy markets”.
“The most fragile customers, i.e. those who fall under the “vulnerability” regime, are suffering from the continuous increases in wholesale prices, which fortunately will have less of an impact on consumers’ pockets, as in this period of the year the heating systems are turned off – explains Codacons – The real problem, however, is represented by the gas rates on the free market, where rates are still high for both fixed-price and variable-price contractssince contrary to expectations, the long-awaited competition between operators capable of reducing gas bills has not been generated”.
