Gas bills, price rising for vulnerable users: +9.1% in October. Never so high

For the month of October 2026, wholesale prices have undergone a sharp increase and the total spending of the typical user increases by 9.1% compared to the previous month. Therefore, for the approximately 2.3 million customers still in the Vulnerability Protection Service, the price of the gas raw material alone is equal to 88.36 euros/MWh. Arera communicates this in the monthly update.

In detail, for the month of October, the reference price of gas for the new typical customer is equal to 176.80 euro cents per cubic meter (+9.1% on September), of which: expenditure for natural gas material 97.06 euro cents (equal to 54.9% of the total bill) for the supply of natural gas and for related activities and 5.83 euro cents (3.3% of the total bill) for retail sales detail; expense for transport and management of the meter: 27.25 euro cents (15.41% of the total bill) for distribution, metering, transport, distribution equalization and quality services; expenditure for system charges: 4.98 euro cents (2.82% of the total bill) for general system charges; taxes: 41.68 euro cents (23.57% of the total bill) for taxes.

The price of gas has never been higher

"A historic record. Never has the price of gas, including taxes, been so high", explains Marco Vignola, vice-president of the National Consumers Union, commenting on the Arera data. According to the association's study, for the new typical customer who consumes 1100 cubic meters of gas, the +9.1% recorded by Arera means spending 163 euros (+162.58 euros) more on an annual basis, assuming constant prices for the next 12 months. The total annual expenditure (not, therefore, according to the rolling year, but from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027) thus takes off, for the vulnerable, to 1,945 (1944.80) euros which, added to the 869 euros of electricity, determine a total annual blow equal to 2,814 euros. If the price of gas rises today by 9.1%, compared to the pre-crisis times of October 2020 it is now 162.9% higher, while compared to the old historical record of December 2022, based on the new historical series reconstructed according to the new typical customer, it is 16.8% higher.