(Finance) – With an allocation of 800 million euros the government extends aid for expensive bills until September. The Council of Ministers confirmed the reduction of VAT to 5% for the supply of methane gas for the third quarter. The elimination of system charges for the gas sector and the VAT rate reduced to 5% for district heating and for energy produced with methane gas have been extended. The enhanced social bonus for discounts on electricity and gas bills was also extended to 30 September 2023.
The results of this extension of aid should already be seen tomorrow, when Arera will announce the quarterly update of the electricity tariffs on the protected market (one third of users, the others are on the free market). The president of Nomisma Energia, Davide Tabarelli, predicts that the electricity bill on the protected market will remain almost the same. The possible variation could be between -0.5% and +1%.
There gas bill instead it should drop by 2% in early July, when Arera will announce the update of the June tariff on the protected market.
“With the bills decree, the government – says the Minister of the Environment and Energy Security, Gilberto Pichetto, commenting on the provision approved by the Council of Ministers on the purchase of electricity and gas – the support to citizens and businesses in the difficult energy situation continues consistently. The extension to the third quarter of the social bonus for customers in economic difficulty, the 5% VAT on methane for civil and industrial uses and the zeroing of general charges for the gas sector are important signs. Therefore, the process of cost containment for households and the productive sectors started some time ago and which is still necessary in this phase is intensifying”.