How to intervene on bills without forcing the market? There is a third way

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The scorching sun is driving electricity consumption to the max and when demand is high, prices also rise; families and businesses are complaining. Electricity industrialists feel under fire, while a new breed of “electricity eaters” is advancing, the data centers that will soon dominate the market. Stefano Besseghini , president of Arera, the authority that regulates energy, has denounced that Italians pay the highest rates in Europe, surpassed only by those in Germany: 41.13 cents per kilowatt hour in Germany; 35.70 in Italy; 28 in France and 26.26 in Spain. There is also tension between businesses that consume and those that produce energy, while Confindustria is looking for a point of equilibrium. The magic word is “decoupling”. The price of the bill is doubly tied to that of gas on the market, why not cut the umbilical cord? For Italy, the advantage on paper would be notable; among the main countries, it is the one that depends most on methane: 44 percent, followed by hydroelectric (19 percent), solar (14 percent), wind (8 percent) and other renewables (8 percent) . In Spain, gas accounts for 19 percent, in Germany 17 percent; in France it is minimal (3 percent) while nuclear dominates (68 percent). Both Spain and Germany have a more balanced mix: the Spanish have maintained 20 percent of nuclear and have thrown themselves into renewables (55 percent overall); the Germans have closed the nuclear power plants and reopened the coal ones (a fifth of production).

The energy market is integrated and a solo exit would be counterproductive, say electricians. Let's first see how the marginal price is formed. For every quarter of an hour, producers offer energy at auction at the cost incurred to produce a kwh with a given technology. The cheapest offer is that from renewables, then comes the imported one, gas, coal and nuclear. The price is set by the technology that saturates the demand; in Italy it is gas for 60 percent of the hours per day . What happens if by decree it is decided to put a cap in such a way as to make renewables the point of reference? It is a theoretical hypothesis because in Italy there are still too few green sources. Spain, where they supply over half of the demand, has tried. For a while it seemed like a real land of plenty, then even the companies that produce with renewables found themselves in difficulty because the final result was not enough to remunerate the investments in infrastructure.

The so-called pun, the single national price (average of the seven zones into which Italy is divided), represents the daily wholesale price, but the bill also includes additional charges, VAT, excise duty, network losses, dispatching (difference between energy fed into and withdrawn by customers), and equalization. In short, there is the entire energy system. And the best way to reduce costs and prices is to intervene on the system, from production to distribution. Renewables are cheaper (even if all their structural components must be taken into account), it is necessary to increase their share (especially solar), but it is a long and bumpy road. The Spanish example is the latest demonstration that any market forcing turns into a boomerang .

However, the cost stress on manufacturing companies, especially small and medium-sized ones, as well as on families, is such that it is not possible to answer "the issue is complex", even if it really is. Thus a compromise emerges that passes through long-term contracts between producers of renewables and buyers with an agreed price, while public bodies could stipulate contracts with downward auctions and subsequent compensations . It becomes a de facto decoupling without impositions from above. A solution that satisfies everyone? The effects are to be calculated and will not reduce future bills. Furthermore, energy-intensive companies that cannot be powered only by renewables do not see great advantages, despite already receiving incentives. And it is not only the steel and chemical industries, but the data grinders who have a great expansion ahead of them. They will be the ones to set the price in an increasingly near future.

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