Why do power and gas bills vary?

Update of electricity and gas tariffs for customers on the protected market

The Regulatory Authority for Energy, Networks and the Environment (ARERA) publishes the update of the prices for customers served under protection:

• quarterly for electricity (from 1 April 2023 only for domestic customers);
• monthly for gas, from October 2022 the ARERA modified the mechanism for defining the gas protection price, indexing it to the monthly changes in the wholesale market (PSV), this makes bills more responsive to changes in market prices compared to the previous quarterly mechanism.

The other expense items, which fall within the expenditure for energy/gas, the transport and management of the meter and the system charges, are applied according to what is defined, published and periodically updated by the 'ARERA. Similarly, VAT and taxes are applied and possibly updated in accordance with current legislation.

For more information, consult the article on the trend of the ARERA economic conditions.

Update of electricity and gas prices for customers on the free market

Unlike customers served under protection, where the price of electricity and gas is determined by ARERA, on the free market the seller can offer:

• fixed-price offers, the price of the energy/gas raw material component and the marketing and sales consideration (CCV Luce or CCV Gas) remain blocked for the entire duration of the offer; li>
• variable price offers (indexed), the price of the energy component or the gas raw material is influenced by the trend in the wholesale price of the energy/gas raw material (average monthly change) , to which the marketing and sale fee (CCV electricity or CCV gas) is added in any case.

For electricity offers, the reference index is the PUN (Single National Price), i.e. the wholesale reference price of electricity. 

For gas offers the reference index is the PSV (Virtual Exchange Point) place where the exchange or sale of natural gas, i.e. the meeting point between gas supply and demand in Italy. 

The other expense items (which fall within the expense for the energy/gas material other than the price of the energy component or the gas raw material and the marketing and sales consideration, the cost of transport and management of the meter and expenditure for system charges) are applied in accordance with what is defined, published and periodically updated by ARERA. Similarly, VAT and taxes are applied and possibly updated in accordance with current legislation.

What the change in economic conditions consists of

As the expiry of the economic conditions is approaching, Enel Energia reserves the right to change the price of the energy component or of the gas raw material according to the trend in electricity and gas prices on the wholesale markets and of the marketing and sales consideration.

With at least 90 days' notice, Enel Energia, as contractually envisaged, sends written communication, in which it informs its customers of the new economic conditions and the effective date of the same.

If you do not wish to accept the new economic conditions proposed, you can choose to withdraw from the contract with Enel Energia, identifying a new electricity and/or gas supplier, or expressly request the closure of the supply point.

You can request information to change the active offer on your supply or with respect to the communications received, by contacting the toll-free number 800900860 or by going to a Spazio Enel closest to you.