Bills rise, on ‘La Ragione’ the statistical analysis by Ricolfi and the Hume Foundation

Increase in gas and electricity bills: today the usual weekly column of the opinion newspaper La Ragione – leAli alla liberty is dedicated to these issues, edited by Professor Luca Ricolfi and Fondazione Hume dedicated to quantitative analysis of topical issues. The report of the Arera (Regulatory Authority for Energy, Networks and the Environment) of last December 31 announced a sharp rise in the cost of energy. During the first quarter of the current year, the price of natural gas will experience an increase of almost 42 percentage points, while that of electricity will record an historic + 55%. According to an estimate by the Federconsumatori Observatory, electricity and gas bills will rise respectively by 334 euros (+ 68%) and 610 euros (+ 64%) on an annual basis, leading the average Italian family to spend an extra 943 euros. compared to 2021. The increase in energy prices will not only have a direct effect on citizens’ pockets (the increase in bills), but also an indirect effect. In fact, given that production costs will be more onerous, there will be an increase in prices in the large-scale distribution sector and in the service sector. The price of food is expected to rise by around 4.2% with an impact on the portfolio of 300 euros more per year. The increases of 3.6% on the water tariff, 3.4% on motorway services and 3.4% on health services will also weigh on the family budget. Transport, on the other hand, will cost 172 euros more than in 2021 with an increase of 3.2 percentage points. In total, for the services taken into consideration, an increase in costs of 895 euros is estimated compared to the previous year. The surge in tariffs is certainly not a bolt from the blue. The clouds had been gathering for a while, so much so that the Draghi government intervened in September 2021 by allocating 3.8 billion to prevent an even more dizzying rise in the price of energy. Given that the numbers illustrated are the result of an estimate based only on the first quarter of 2022, it is still reasonable to hope for a decrease in costs. However, if the situation – especially as regards natural gas – does not improve, further action will be needed to ease the pressure on households and businesses. The complete analysis by Luca Ricolfi and Fondazione Hume correlated with the comment by the editorial staff of La Ragione are available in the issue of the newspaper and forever free of charge on the website www.laragione.eu and app.