Power and gas social bonus

The social bonus is a discount on the bill, provided by the Government and made operational by the Regulatory Authority for Energy, Networks and Environment, to ensure savings on energy and natural gas expenditure for families in conditions of economic and physical hardship.

The following bonuses are provided:

Starting from October 2021, the Government has foreseen a strengthening of the power and gas bonuses in order to offset the increases in expenditure resulting from the increases recorded in the prices of power and natural gas. For the fourth quarter of 2023, an adjustment to the basic bonus has been envisaged in addition to the ordinary bonus and, for customers in the electricity sector experiencing economic hardship, a further extraordinary contribution, increasing based on the number of members of the family unit (Arera Resolution n° 429/23).

Power and gas social bonus for economic hardship: who is entitled

To access the bonus for economic hardship 2023, one of the members of the ISEE household must be the holder of an electricity or natural gas supply contract with a tariff for domestic use; moreover it must belong to one of these categories:

  • household with an ISEE indicator not exceeding 9,530 euros (for 2023 the ISEE threshold value was raised to 15,000 euros);
  • family unit with at least 4 dependent children (large family) and ISEE indicator not exceeding 20,000 euros (for 2023 the ISEE threshold value was raised to 30,000 euros)*;
  • family nucleus holder of Citizenship Income or Citizenship Pension.

(*) for families with at least 4 dependent children (large family) and an ISEE indicator between 20,000 euros and 30,000 euros, the bonus will be recognized from 1 April 2023 (or, if later, from the date of activation of the subsidized supply) to 31 December 2023; for these households, the IIS will identify the eligible supplies starting from August 2023. Therefore, the bonus will be applied to the first invoice following receipt of the necessary information from the IIS and will also include any amounts already accrued relating to the previous months..

How to get the power and gas social bonus for economic hardship

From 1 January 2021 (as required by decree-law 26 October 2019 n.124, converted with amendments by law of 19 December 2019, n.157), to obtain the bonus for economic hardship it is sufficient to submit every year (for example at the Municipality, CAF, INPS site) the Single Substitute Declaration (DSU) in order to certify the situation income (ISEE).

The Single Substitute Declaration presented to access the subsidized social benefits (school canteen, maternity allowance, baby bonus, etc.), also allows automatic access to the bonus for economic hardship, if the conditions are met.

Power bonus for physical hardship: who is it for

The power bonus for physical hardship is a relief recognized in case of serious health conditions; it can be get by all domestic customers suffering from serious illness or domestic customers with electricity where a person suffering from serious illness lives, forced to use electro-medical equipment, which involves a high consumption of electrical energy, necessary for keeping it alive.

How to get the social bonus for physical hardship

To access the bonus for physical hardship, it is necessary to submit a request to the Municipality of residence by the owner of the power supply (even if different from the patient) or to the designated bodies by the Municipality, such as the CAF enabled. The subsidy is not linked to the ISEE and its amount depends on the annual consumption of the life-saving machinery used.

Visit the page dedicated to Social Bonus on the ARERA website to get more information.