There are about 4 million Italian families at risk of energy poverty, therefore, over 9 million people find themselves in this difficult condition. This is what emerges from an elaboration carried out by the Cgia Studies Office on the latest available data of the Oipe 20201 Report. Alarming data, also because certainly underpowered, since they were estimated well before the energy shock that broke out in our country starting from the second half of 2021. According to the elaboration of the Venetian artisans, households that are unable to regularly use the heating system in winter, the cooling system in summer and, due to precarious economic conditions, are estimated to be in conditions of energy poverty , do not have or occasionally use household appliances with high energy consumption. In the identikit of energetically “vulnerable” families, there are those with a high number of members who reside in poorly preserved housing, with a young head of the family, often unemployed and / or an immigrant. In the South, families are more vulnerable to electricity and gas consumption The frequency of energy poverty in the South is the highest in Italy, where it affects between 24 and 36% of families residing in this area. In absolute terms, Campania is the region most in difficulty: the number of families that occasionally use electricity and gas varies between 519 thousand and 779 thousand units. Equally critical is the situation in Sicily where the fork fluctuates between 481 thousand and 722 thousand households and in Calabria which has a range between 191 thousand and 287 thousand families in difficulty in the daily use of electricity and methane. A little less critical, but still with a medium-high energy “vulnerability”, we see the other regions of the South and some of the Center that have a range that varies from 14 to 24 per cent of resident families: Puglia (with a number of nuclei between 223 thousand and 383 thousand), Sardinia (between 102 thousand and 174 thousand), the Marche (between 90 thousand and 154 thousand), Abruzzo (between 77 thousand and 132 thousand) and Umbria (between 53 thousand and 91 thousand). The situation improves as you go up the peninsula. In the medium-low risk range (between 10 and 14 percent of the families involved), we note Lazio and some northern regions: Piedmont, Liguria, Friuli Venezia Giulia and Valle d’Aosta. Finally, in the lowest range, the one that includes a number of families in difficulty ranging from 6 to 10 percent of the total, includes Lombardy, Veneto, Emilia Romagna, Tuscany and Trentino Alto Adige. more at risk of poverty due to expensive bills The exponential increase in bill prices expected for next autumn could considerably worsen the economic situation of many families, especially those made up of self-employed workers. Many artisans, small traders and VAT numbers are paying twice the extraordinary increase recorded in the last 6 months in electricity and gas bills. The first as domestic users and the second as small entrepreneurs to heat / cool and illuminate their shops and shops, signals the Cgia of Mestre in recalling that from the latest data processed by Istat and referring to 2019, the poverty risk of families present in Italy with a main income attributable to a self-employed worker was 25.1% against 20% attributable to families with main source of income from employment. The 2022 bill bonus is an economic aid introduced by the Draghi government that allows families ( domestic users) and businesses (non-domestic users) in difficulty due to expensive energy, to mitigate, at least in part, the rise in their bills. Among the most significant measures: strengthening of the electricity and gas social bonus for domestic users in disadvantaged conditions, reduction of VAT to 5% on gas for both families and businesses; zeroing of general system charges for low voltage users (up to 16.5 KW); the possibility to pay the bills in 10 installments, but only for those issued from January 1st to June 30th 2022. The nuclei with an Isee below 12,000 euros can be used, and numerous households with an Isee of 20,000 euros per year and at least 4 children; the beneficiaries of citizenship income or citizenship pension and also users in precarious health conditions who use electro-medical equipment. The Aid Decree bis, published in the Official Gazette last month, included, from 1 January 2023, among “vulnerable” customers also people over 75, retired and non-retired, and those who have utilities in the smaller non-interconnected islands or in emergency homes after a disaster.