Details of costs and consumption in electricity billespecially with inflation and the current economic crisis, it is an aspect that is starting to be increasingly taken into consideration by users, also with the aim of being able to identify some way to save.
In the accompanying sheets, however, only a few mandatory items are indicated, including, obviously, the consumption made in the indicated period and the relative sum to be paid: however, many elements are missing which would be decisive for understanding the actual costs, possibly recoverable only from the contract subscribed before activating the service.
The bill
Currently, in Italy, two different types of offer coexist: the free market and the protected one. A dichotomy that will end on January 1, 2024, when there will only be room for the free market.
To determine the costs in the protected market is It’s feedingwhich carries out a quarterly update of the rates. In the free market, on the other hand, the operator establishes the costs, which may differ from those determined by the Authority. Sometimes energy distributors add further elements to the contract stipulated with the user, such as, for example, bonuses or free assistance.
In the bills referable to both offers it is possible to detect, apart from i material costsalso those of transport, meter management, taxes and finally system charges. Precisely these two items, imposed by the State and mandatory, are identical regardless of the contract. Finally, in recent years, the item relating to the Rai license fee has also been added.
What can’t be read
Although other items determine the costs in the bill, they are not present in the accompanying documents.
Arera, which as mentioned establishes the costs of the protected market, makes available to its users a specific spreadsheet with the updated price list. However, references to those are missing hidden entries which, after all, are the most decisive in forming the overall weight of the bills: costs which, indeed, can be determined from the contractual conditions, but are never taken up and summarized when the bill is sent to users. We are essentially talking about the dispatching component (Pd) and equalization components (Ppe). There is also an annual fixed fee for marketing and sales (Pcv) which is added to the initial cost of the raw material. For example, Arera, which only deals with the protected market, has set an annual cost pcv of 69.88 euros (5.823 euros per month)
When it comes to the free market, the music changes, given that it is the operator who sets the price, being able to also choose to determine a fixed monthly cost. As for the protected market, management and distribution/marketing costs are added to the free one too, which vary from contract to contract.
Have the data
The only way to have complete knowledge of the items that make up the bill is to request a detailed document. Each operator is obliged to provide one detailed bill to its customers in case of request and can never refuse to do so. Generally it is made available on the distributor’s online portal in the reserved area: only thanks to this more detailed knowledge of the items making up the document will it be possible to understand where savings can actually be made and what weighs decisively on the final cost.
