ROME (Reuters) – Regulated electricity prices in Italy will rise 59% in the fourth quarter, sector regulator ARERA said on Thursday.
This increase, which reflects the surge in wholesale prices linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, concerns 41.5% of households in the country according to the organization’s 2021 data.
Market conditions should in fact have led to an even greater increase, of “around 100%” but ARERA intervened “on an exceptional basis” to curb it, she explains in a press release.
“A doubling of tariffs would have increased the number of late payments, adding to the difficulties of families and the energy sector,” said the authority’s president, Stefano Besseghini.
According to the regulator, the annual electricity bill of an average Italian household should reach 1,322 euros in 2022 against 632 euros last year.
The outgoing government, chaired by Mario Draghi, has spent 66 billion euros since January on measures to mitigate the impact of the energy crisis, and the next government to emerge from last Sunday’s elections could further increase support to purchasing power.
Inflation in Italy reached 9.1% over one year in August.
(Report Alvise Armellini, French version Marc Angrand, edited by Matthieu Protard)
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