Dl Bills today in the Council of Ministers with the corrections on the costs of the gas cap

The Bollette decree should reach the Council of Ministers today, barring last-minute changes, after the postponement decided last week. The Minister for the Environment and Energy Security, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, confirmed the intention to bring the legislative decree to approval yesterday, during an event organized by Elettricità Futura, the association of electricity producers.

Addressing that audience, the minister spoke of the need to "define the application of article 6 of the bills decree which has led to a very close discussion" with the producers and which has also led to "the postponement" of the same. The Forza Italia representative clarified that "it was necessary to refine any distortions resulting from the provision" and assured that he would evaluate "the discussions between the ministry and Elettricità Futura", implying that some observations made by electricity producers could be accepted.

At the center of the comparison is the mechanism of the gas price cap, set at 58.9 euros per megawatt hour: the energy sold to customers must take that price into account, while the differential compared to market values ​​is blocked. Energy producers receive compensation for that gap through the reversal of costs, partly on the system charges of customers who have variable price contracts (vulnerable groups and industries). The remaining part, based on the version of the decree that became the subject of negotiation, should have been left to be paid by the producers themselves. The latter is a path that is not liked by those directly involved and which Mase would be willing to correct by hypothesizing a bar, in any case lower than the market price, compared to the level of costs passed on to producers in order to recover from them only the possible differential between the price cap (58.9 euros per MWh) and this threshold, the value of which has not yet been finalised.

Whether the solution will be found, with a solution appreciated by the producers, will only be understood today after the launch in CDM. The gas price cap is a measure that penalizes producers, but benefits energy-intensive companies. The contrast between the two fronts is reflected in the debate within Confindustria. «We are amazed that Orsini throws alcohol on the flames on a day of dialogue. If you want dialogue, we are ready, but if you prefer to start fires, we will not stand by and watch", was the reply of the president of Elettricità Futura, Salvatore Pinto, to the words formulated by the number one of Confindustria, Emanuele Orsini, on the topic of hydroelectric power.

Also yesterday, Pinto lined up all the measures envisaged by the maneuver which penalize the sector. «It has been a troubled year – he said – which began with a Bill decree which saw the sector contribute several billion euros. Now other measures are announced which, once again, penalize us. In the space of a few weeks, the electricity sector has seen one measure after another come upon it. A new IRAP worth hundreds of millions, while in Italy our companies publish quarterly reports with a significant decline, with margins already in line with or lower than those of their European competitors. A ceiling on the price of gas, the so-called Italian Tope, which from what has emerged would burden producers with costs that no one knows how to calculate and would hit precisely those who have chosen the fixed price, the solution that is protecting families and businesses from increases. On the Bills bill we hope for a discussion table, to achieve the objectives set by the government without causing damage to anyone". Pinto then mentioned the Arera consultation after the government's decision to extend the end of the gradual protections. «An extension that changes the rules of tenders that have already been concluded», he said, and which penalizes fixed price contracts. All these interventions "amount to 6-7 billion euros: a bit too much for a single sector in a single year".