Bill decree, green light to cap gas prices. How it works and who will benefit from it

The government has approved the introduction of a ceiling on the price of gas (price cap) paid by thermoelectric power plants to control the costs of downstream bills for families and businesses. The intervention, approved yesterday by the Council of Ministers, modifies article 6 of the Bill Decree approved in February and implements the agreement reached with the European Commission after a long and complex negotiation.

But how does the mechanism envisaged by the Legislative Decree work? The instrument, which will come into action from 1 January 2027, sets a reimbursement for producers whenever there is a positive difference between the price recorded on the Ttf spot market (the reference index for gas in Europe) on the previous day and a fixed threshold equal to 58.9 euro/MWh, the ceiling set precisely by the decree.

The roof will operate for a maximum period of 18 months (12 months of full application plus 6 months of gradual phase out) and its cost will not burden the State coffers, but is self-financed through specific fees applied by Arera on the electricity withdrawal points to be paid by the entities responsible for balancing (and by the producers for on-site consumption as part of simple production and consumption systems). The Arera, specifies the decree, will regulate the reimbursement mechanism that will be recognized to thermoelectric plants only in market sessions in which the same results co-marginal in the formation of the price, as well as to those powered by derivative gases, with the exclusion of plants subject to essentiality regimes with cost reimbursement.

But who will pay the cost of the mechanism? The decree, in compliance with what Brussels had indicated, establishes that all those who benefit from the price cap will pay, i.e. users with variable price contracts indexed to the Pun (the single national price) on which the reduction obtained through the price cap is transferred. And which the government estimates at around 15 euros per megawatt hour of average reduction compared to the Pun (currently above 200 euros per MWh).

However, the greatest savings, as also reiterated by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, will be in favor of businesses. Based on the numbers released after the CDM, it is estimated that, for 2027 consumption, they will be equal to around 280 euros for a typical small artisan business, with consumption of 40 MWh per year; of approximately 210 thousand euros for a large company in the food sector, with consumption of 30 thousand megawatt hours per year; of approximately 520 thousand euros for an energy-intensive company with a significant share of self-production and consumption of 40 thousand euros MWh per year.