Gas and electricity bills: what will happen with the end of the protected market in 2024
The date currently marked on the calendar for the end of the protected energy market is 10 January 2024. If there are no other extensions, as happened in the past, from the beginning of next year turning to a supplier on the free market will be the It's the only choice for all home users. But what exactly is meant by “protected market”? And what will happen on that date to those who are still in that energy regime? Let's clarify.
What is the protected market? This is how the energy supply system is defined in which tariffs and conditions are established by the ARERA (Regulatory Authority for Energy, Networks and the Environment) and are the same for all customers who are part of it. Under the protection regime, it is not possible to change supplier to access personalized offers and the cost items in the bill, including the actual price of the raw material (electricity or gas), are decided and periodically updated by the Authority according to various criteria. For example, during 2022 the war in Ukraine deeply shook the wholesale energy market, and this caused prices to skyrocket also for final consumers; in recent months, on the contrary, the relative stability of the market has meant that retail costs have remained calm and without fluctuations . The protected market contrasts with the free market, in which there is free competition between suppliers who can thus apply more competitive prices, promotions and contractual conditions, for the benefit of savings-conscious customers who have access to a range of often advantageous and customizable offers according to your consumption needs. According to ARERA data, around one out of three domestic customers is still on the protected market today.
What will happen in January for those who are still under protection? First of all, don't worry: there will be no penalties of any kind or supply interruptions. Customers who at the end of the protected market have not yet made the transition to free will be gradually accompanied to the transition with the so-called gradual protection service, the same mechanism used for SMEs and micro-enterprises that found themselves in this situation when the protected market for them came to an end (earlier than home users).
What is the gradual protection service? It is the service that will guarantee continuity of energy supply to users who will remain on the protected market until its expiry. In the gradual protection service it will not be possible to choose one's own supplier, who will be automatically assigned according to the geographical area. The energy tariffs applied in this regime will be PLACET offers (Free Price Under Equivalent Protection Conditions), which provide that the supplier can establish the price, as on the free market, but must comply with the contractual conditions of the protected market (times and methods of payment , documentation to be requested and provided to the customer and so on).
What should you do? If you have changed supplier in recent years you are probably already on the free energy market: in this case you don't have to worry about the end of the protected market, but it is still a good idea to periodically reassess your contractual conditions and compare them with the offers of other suppliers so as not to miss out on savings opportunities. If, on the other hand, you are still in the protection regime (if you are not sure, look at your bill, you should find the indication), you should not wait passively: it is probable that the prices of the PLACET offers of the gradual protection service will not be so convenient, or at least not as much as the prices of the best offers on the free market, so we might as well move ahead and make the transition now.
Thanks to our Telegram channel you can stay updated on the publication of new articles from Economic Scenarios.
The article Gas and electricity bills: what will happen with the end of the protected market in 2024 comes from Scenari Economici .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/bollette-gas-e-luce-cosa-succedera-con-la-fine-del-mercato-tutelato-nel-2024/ on Wed, 26 Jul 2023 22:25:08 +0000.