Bills, gas is still rising for the vulnerable. In October Arera raises prices by 9.1%

MILAN – Further increases, again for the most vulnerable. In October, the gas bills of vulnerable customers rose by another 9.1%, reflecting the surge in international prices, which in turn move in response to geopolitical tensions. For a typical new customer, a family that consumes an average of 1,100 cubic meters of methane per year, the reference price in October was 176.80 cents per cubic meter.

Of the total bill, half of the expense pays for materials, natural gas, and supplies, equal to 97.06 cents. In September they were 0.843 cents, in February less than 40. The rest are spending on retail sales (5.83 cents, equal to 3.3% of the bill), spending on transport and meter management (27.25 cents, 15.41%), system charges (4.98 cents, 2.82%) and taxes (41.68 cents, 23.57%).

Protection is increasingly expensive

The numbers apply to the 2.3 million vulnerable customers - those aged 75 or over or who live in situations of economic, health or territorial fragility - but are also a reference for those who are on the free market and have variable prices.

The most vulnerable are given the possibility of establishing contracts at the economic conditions dictated by the Energy Authority, the Arera, which are historically more convenient. It's a shame that this type of tariff includes variable prices, the first to rise in response to increases in international prices.

Gas is running on international markets

Gas futures traded on the TTF in Amsterdam, which have been in fibrillation for months due to the wars, have broken through the psychological threshold of 100 euros per megawatt hour in recent weeks. The months of blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and the damage to the liquefaction plants in the Persian Gulf are having an impact, in the face of demand which, with the exception of industry, is struggling to decline. The price set by Arera is the result of these dynamics and stands at 88.3585 euros/MWh.

“Almost 2000 euros of gas for the vulnerable”

The reaction of consumer associations was rapid. “The blow to Italians' energy consumption is confirmed,” Codacons complains. It is the "sixth consecutive increase", recalls Assoutenti. The National Consumers Union dubs it a "historic record": "Never has the price of gas, including taxes, been so high." The acronyms do the math: the October increase, in the hypothesis of constant prices, raises the average bill for the whole of 2026 to 1,945 euros. A figure which, added to the estimated 868.6 euros for electricity, brings the total bill for a vulnerable user to 2,813.6 euros.