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by Tiziana Di Giovannandrea 26 March 2019From next April 1st the electricity and gas tariffs will have a significant reduction linked "mainly to the contraction of the prices of raw materials in the wholesale energy markets, national and international" says the Arera, the Energy Authority for customers in the protected market.The decrease in electricity and gas tariffs only concerns customers who are in the protected market.
After the peaks reached in 2018 by energy bills, as in part has already happened in the first three months of 2019, in the second quarter of this year there will be a drop in the electricity bill of -8.5% and of gas for -9.9%.
Reasons for falling electricity and gas bills
The restructuring of the bill for electricity was due to a sharp drop in the component covering electricity procurement costs (-12.22%), but partially reduced by an adjustment of the general charges (3.72% ).
The reduction in the raw material component is mainly determined by the fall in international prices of energy commodities , with a reduction in the price of natural gas which is also stimulated by the lowering of prices between the Asian and European markets.
We must also consider that, after the significant growth of last year, the price of CO2 emission permits now seems to have settled.
With regard to general expenses , the Authority intervened to take into account the updated requirements of the system's revenue with the aim of ensuring the rebalancing of the effects of the previous maneuver, which in 2018 had ensured enhanced protection for domestic customers compared to non-domestic customers. Pets.
For natural gas, the trend is determined by the reduction in raw material expenditure (-10.5% on typical family expenditure), linked to the seasonal prices that are expected in the wholesale markets in the next quarter, slightly offset by small adjustments to general charges (0.41%) and other components related to transport and meter management (0.15%).
Economic benefits for the typical family
As for the savings for the typical family (before taxes, in the year between 1 July 2018 and 30 June 2019), for electricity it will be 565 euros while for gas it will be 1,157 euros.
Everything depends on "favorable conditions"
"A reduction in the bill is always a welcomed fact, of course, but it is necessary to monitor the causes and the dynamics with the same attention that would have been reserved otherwise" - said the President of the Authority, Stefano Besseghini - "The first quarter gave us a not too harsh winter and gas purchase conditions aligned between Europe and Asian countries that contributed to a containment of wholesale prices.The Authority's action in this context focuses on monitoring the system to allow the maximum transfer of possible benefit to the final customer. "