The Association of Utility Manager Assium analyzed the data of Arera And he discovered that about 1.2 million non -vulnerable families who have passed automatically from the protected market to the free energy, are spending much more than users for users. The bills, For these families, 44% have increased compared to previous rates and 80% compared to what was offered by the gradual protein regime.
It is one of the feared consequences of the transition to free market. The lack of information by users involves unnecessary expenses, which could be avoided even with research on some institutional sites.
The increases in the bill for the transition to the free market
In July 2024 the protected market of electricity was officially finished. In January of the same year, however, 4.4 million non -vulnerable families had not yet chosen a free market operator. To avoid one automatic mass migrationwhich would have involved very high expenses, Aretra established the gradual protectionsa system to accompany users to the free market.
The transition to gradual protections was automatic, but well 1,230,970 families They decided to definitively get out of the protection and enter the market free voluntarily. However, their choices did not prove to be careful. On average, these people are today spending 44% more than those who remained in the protected market (only vulnerable in January 2025) and Ben 80% In more than the 3.2 million families who have automatically passed to gradual protections.
These are significant increases: 432 euros On average per year for those who have chosen the variable rate, 402 euros for those who have preferred the fixed one. For these users, the average electricity bill is Between 945 euros and 972 euros per year, against those of about 540 of gradual protections.
How to avoid the increases by leaving the protected market
The free market is actually more convenient both than the protected one and gradual protections. In fact, it does not make sense to compare medium figures, given that each user could choose the most convenient offer available. The average of families spent on the free market in 2024 leaving the gradual protections spends 35 cents at Kilowattora. Those left in gradual junctions 20 cents. On the free market there are several offers under 15 cents.
The main problem that leads to these spending increases is the lack of users of users. After decades in state monopoly regime, Italians do not have a habit or a Choose their electricity manager Nor to change it in case the offer does not prove satisfactory. Therefore unwinded choices operate which, as demonstrated by the analysis of Assium, can cost Ance 400 euros per year.
However, competition in the service sector has already shown that it has the potential to lower prices in Italy. The Italian telephone market, since it was liberalized, made one emerge competition Very lit among the companies that led to some of the lowest prices in Europe.
