The bills of discord. Companies divided within Confindustria

A crack has opened in the industrialists' stronghold. After months - if not years - of back and forth, at a certain point the positions simply became too distant. In the associative dialectic something broke and someone stopped feeling at home.

Elettricità Futura left Confindustria Energia without slamming the door, but sending a powerful message to the highest levels of the business lobby: enough is enough.

The “enemies”

What happened? First of all, the war in the Gulf, which exacerbated the already high tension on energy prices, which were heavily dependent on gas. As the months passed, the price increases fueled the narrative according to which those who produced and sold energy were earning "too much", to the detriment of consumers (families but also businesses) and were therefore the "enemy" to be fought.

Or at least, this is how the new president of Elettricità Futura, Salvatore Pinto, must have felt when at the meeting he spoke of "energy populism" and of a sector, the electricity one, "targeted more than others".

He listed the first Bills decree, a new increase in IRAP, just as energy companies "publish noticeably declining quarterly reports", the extension of gradual protections, "which changes the rules of tenders already concluded" and, last but not least, the cap on the price of gas, contained in the new and highly anticipated Bills decree. EF sums things up: the blow is worth "6-7 billion" in a year and risks compromising investments. Pinto speaks of a sector treated as «a fund to draw on whenever needed» and loudly calls «to open a frank and fair discussion on all these issues».

The five proposals of Elettricità Futura

The electricians put five proposals on the table to reduce the country's dependence on gas and thus attempt to contain prices. First, producing more energy in Italy, which in the absence of nuclear power means increasing investments in renewables. Second, develop the system, to bring energy where it is needed most. Third, promote the decoupling between the price of electricity and that of methane, through long-term contracts.

Fourth - and here Pinto winks at the rest of Confindustria - support companies to prevent high costs from leading them to relocate their activities. And finally, addressing the government, he asks for stable rules so that companies can invest.

A clarification is necessary. Within Confindustria there is a place dedicated to discussing these issues and it is called the energy technical group. And the fact that high bills are a drag on the competitiveness of Italian companies is a point on which members have long agreed. How to deal with the problem, between producers and consumers, remains the sore point.

The mistake that Elettricità Futura accuses Confindustria (energy and otherwise), starting from president Emanuele Orsini, is that of leaning too much on the side of consumers and, among energy producers, of being too close to the gas world. Here are the reasons for the split, "a choice of representation" and not a mere "contrast with gas or other energy sectors".

The response of the other subsidiaries

However, this is not the interpretation given by the other subsidiaries. Eni quickly distanced itself, calling for collaboration in a period of crisis. The position of Italgas and Snam, the two representatives of the methane network, is similar.

Agostino Scornajenchi, CEO of Snam but with a past at the helm of Terna's electricity network, considers Confindustria Energia "a privileged place for discussion, mediation and synthesis between different sensitivities, experiences and interests". And it proposes a profound reflection "on the market model introduced many years ago". A reflection which, he reiterates, "requires everyone's contribution".

A "decomposed reaction"

From Viale dell'Astronomia the condemnation is clear: that of Elettricità Futura is a "discomposed reaction". Orsini says he is in favor of dialogue, but reiterates the need to rebalance profits between those who produce and those who consume energy, citing the margins of the hydroelectric sector.

A delicate topic, which triggers a reaction from Pinto: «If he wants dialogue we are ready, if instead he prefers to start fires, we will not stand by and watch». The tear is done.

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