After the increases in electricity prices, another blow arrives on gas bills. The Arera (Regulatory Authority for Energy, Networks and the Environment) announced that, in March 2026, the price of gas raw materials for vulnerable customers increased by 19.2% compared to February. An increase that weighs on the wallets of approximately 2.3 million vulnerable users throughout Italy and which represents an alarm signal also for those in the free market.
The causes of the rise
After a brief pause in February, wholesale gas prices began to rise strongly again in March. According to Arera, the main cause is linked to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, which have increased uncertainty in international energy markets, pushing up Italian wholesale prices (PSV).
The price of gas raw material alone now stands at 52.12 euros per megawatt hour. The value is updated monthly as an average of the PSV and published within the first two working days of the following month.
How the bill is made up
For the typical customer, the reference price of gas reaches 130.97 euro cents per cubic meter, with an increase of 19.2% compared to February. The bill is broken down like this:
- raw material and supply: 58.44 cents/m3 (44.62%);
- retail sales: 6.02 cents/m3 (4.60%);
- transport and meter management: 26.43 cents/m3 (20.18%);
- system charges: 4.98 cents/m3 (3.80%);
- taxes: 35.10 cents/m3 (26.80%).
The tax component therefore accounts for over a quarter of the total, a fact that consumer associations continue to strongly highlight.
Consumer alarm
The reactions were not long in coming. Assoutenti asks the government to intervene on the taxation of bills.
We believe that in this delicate situation the government must intervene with more effective measures on the taxation front which weighs on Italians’ bills, reducing VAT on gas to 10% in order to calm the Iranian effect on spending on household energy supplies. We then need a structural measure on the price of energy which can no longer be determined either with the PSV or with the TTF but with a real relationship between costs and revenues, where a ceiling must be placed on profit margins.
The crisis in the Middle East has had a heavy impact on gas prices. Compared to the same period in 2021, before the energy emergency, the tariffs on the regulated market are approximately 85% higher. A particularly significant increase, considering that it arrives in a period of low temperatures, when families use heating more, with direct effects on energy spending.
How much gas and electricity cost a family
According to the National Consumers Union, for a typical user with an annual consumption of 1,100 cubic meters of gas, the 19.2% increase entails an additional expense of approximately 232 euros per year, assuming stable prices in the next twelve months. The overall expenditure on gas would thus rise to 1,441 euros per year. To this figure, approximately 605 euros are added for electricity, bringing the total to 2,046 euros per year.
To understand the extent of the phenomenon, a historical comparison is enough: compared to March 2021, gas today costs 84.8% more. And compared to the peak recorded in March 2022, in the midst of the post-invasion of Ukraine energy crisis, current prices are just 4.8% lower.
