(Finance) – It’s still going down thereto the gas bill of the protected households. After the decreases recorded for consumption in the months of January (-34.2%) and February (-13%), based on the average trend of the Italian wholesale market in March 2023 and for consumption in the same month , for the standard family under protection (average gas consumption of 1,400 cubic meters per year) there was a decrease of -13.4% in the bill compared to February 2023. This was communicated by the Authority for Energy, Networks and the environment (ARERA).
The reduction for the month of March, in terms of final effects, brings gas expenditure for the typical household in the rolling year (April 2022-March 2023) to around 1,560.7 euros, +0.7% compared to the equivalent 12 months of the previous year (April 2021- March 2022). It should be remembered that, as required by the ‘Budget Law’, for the entire first quarter of 2023 (and therefore again for March consumption) Arera has already zeroed the general system charges for gas and confirmed the negative UG2 component for consumption gas up to 5,000 sm3/year, plus the 5% VAT reduction on gas.
The component of the gas price covering procurement costs, applied to customers still in protection, it is updated by Arera as the monthly average of the price on the Italian wholesale market (PSV day ahead) and published within the first 2 working days of the month following the reference month. For the month of March, which recorded an even lower average wholesale price than that of the month of February, the price of the gas raw material, for customers with contracts under protected conditions, is equal to 46.58 euro/MWh.
Another good news, therefore, for the families who had already welcomed the decrease in the electricity bill. “With the sharp drop in the wholesale prices of energy products, the reference price of electricity for the typical family under protection in the second quarter of 2023 is reduced by 55.3%”ARERA had announced a few days ago, specifying that from 1 April 2023, the reference price of electricity for the typical customer will be 23.75 euro cents per kilowatt hour, including taxes.
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