The provision should have been examined already on 28 October, during the Council of Ministers which approved the 2027 budget bill. Initially included on the agenda, it was subsequently withdrawn to allow for further in-depth analysis. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni explained the reasons for the postponement, ruling out financial difficulties or conflicts with Brussels. "On the bill decree there are no problems with coverage or with the Commission, but some technical checks. Also due to the quantity of measures" being examined by the government "we decided to postpone it to the next Council of Ministers", the prime minister had specified.
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The issue concerns above all the functioning of the mechanism intended to contain the price of gas used to produce electricity and the distribution of the related costs. Last Tuesday, on the sidelines of the inauguration of Ecomondo 2026 in Rimini, Pichetto Fratin confirmed that "my offices are redefining the technical methods of the so-called tipping", referring to the system with which to share the costs of the intervention.
At the center of the new Bill bis decree is the introduction of a ceiling on the price of gas used in thermoelectric power plants, with the aim of reducing the cost of electricity for families and businesses. The measure, inspired by the model adopted in Spain during the previous energy crisis, arises from the preliminary agreement reached on 16 October between the Italian government and the European Commission. According to the hypotheses circulated, the so-called price cap could be set at 58.9 euros per megawatt hour, for an initial period of 12 months, possibly extendable up to 18. The mechanism would allow the impact of gas prices on the formation of wholesale electricity prices to be limited, with a reduction in bills estimated at around 10%. The intervention should come into force from 1 January 2027 and produce benefits especially for customers with indexed contracts, while for those with fixed prices there are no automatic reductions in tariffs. However, these are estimates and conditions still subject to the definition of the definitive text.
One of the most delicate aspects concerns covering the difference between the actual price of gas on the markets and the maximum value recognized to power plants. The system should provide compensation for operators, financed through a burden-sharing mechanism still being defined. The risk is that part of the costs will be transferred to bills, reducing the benefits expected from the measure. The government is therefore considering a distribution of expenses between producers and customers with indexed contracts, trying to avoid penalties for those who have already signed up for fixed-price supplies. The new surge in energy prices also makes the intervention urgent. On October 28, gas in the Amsterdam market had exceeded 100 euros per megawatt hour, returning to the levels reached during the 2022 crisis. The basis of the increases are the uncertainties linked to the war in Iran, fears for international supplies, reduced European stocks and the increase in demand in view of the winter.
The measures under study have caused strong discontent among Italian electricity companies, who accuse the government of having concentrated a large part of the burdens of energy policies on the sector. During the assembly of Elettricità Futura, the president Salvatore Pinto accused the executive of having treated the sector "like a fund to be drawn upon whenever needed", through "interventions amounting to 6-7 billion euros". In the association's sights is not only the cap on the price of gas, but also the increase in IRAP envisaged by the Budget, which should guarantee a contribution of around 700 million euros from energy companies. According to producers, these measures risk compromising investments in renewables and introducing new uncertainties into the market. Of particular concern concerns fixed price contracts: Elettricità Futura fears that the costs of the new system could also fall on customers who have chosen these formulas to protect themselves from price fluctuations.
The discontent also caused a fracture within the Confindustria system. Last Monday Elettricità Futura announced that it will not renew its membership of Confindustria Energia, the organization that brings together companies in the energy sector, while remaining within Confindustria. The decision was based on the belief that it had not been adequately represented in negotiations on government measures benefiting the interests of oil and gas companies and energy-intensive industries. "Whoever represents the industry as a whole must know how to combine different, even divergent, interests", declared Pinto, adding that "for the electricity sector this condition has disappeared". The president then criticized Italy's dependence on fossil fuels: "A country that is a prisoner of gas is condemned for life: dependent on foreign countries, exposed every day to the risk of price and availability." And he observed: "With gas and fuel going crazy, we only talked about electricity. And we got involved in its market. There was much less attention on other energies, which weigh four times as much in family spending."
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