Bills, protected market and free market: what is convenient now?

Protected market or free market? The question that has always divided statists and marketers in the case of electricity and gas bills is becoming a fundamental question in trying to tackle the increase in tariffs. The first thing to say is that soon, from January 1, 2024, there will be no more choice. Because the protected market will definitively close for electricity, one year after the planned stop for gas, completely free from January 1, 2023. The double regime has existed since 1999, when the liberalization of the Bersani decree allowed energy suppliers to stipulate freely contracted in Italy. At the moment, however, there is still just over 40% of the users linked to the protected market. It makes sense, therefore, to ask who is best coping with today’s difficult conditions. The substantial difference between the two schemes is that those who are still under protection pay according to the update scheduled every three months of the tariff schedule of the Energy Authority, the Arera. The latest update, yesterday, involves a 59% increase in the price of electricity. On the contrary, those who are in the free market pay according to a rate that is negotiated with the supplier, and generally it is lower than those of the protected market. That said, there are also risks for those who have chosen to rely on the competition, challenging the instinct of conservation that often pushes the laziest users not to modify contracts that have been dragging on for some time. Savings on the bill often pass through fixed price contracts, which are not changed either in the event of sudden rises or in the hypothesis, which seems unreal today but which occurred in the past, of market falls. As in any open market, conditions change. And only those who have the desire, and the perseverance, to look for the best rate benefit from it. Inertia, or laziness, doesn’t help. Just as it happens in the mobile phone market. The supervision of the free market is the responsibility of the Antitrust and, as happens in other sectors, there is always the risk of incurring unfair commercial practices. The additional services and products envisaged in the free market must also be considered, positively and negatively. Also in this case, the difference is made by the attention with which the operators’ proposals are evaluated and chosen.