Non-household prices for electricity in Italy 2008-2022

Electricity prices for non-household users with consumption between 500 and 2,000 megawatt-hours tended to pay higher prices than users with consumption greater than 20,000 megawatt-hours in Italy. As of 2022, electricity prices amounted to roughly 29.5 euro cents per kilowatt-hour for the former and 26.15 for the latter, respectively. Due to the 2022 energy crisis, these figures were the highest in over a decade.

Electricity is overpriced in Italy

In 2018, the Italian government approved a tax relief reform, targeted at over 3,000 energy-intensive industries, to reduce electricity costs for the industries that were most exposed to international competition. This measure was meant to promote energy efficiency in the industry sector as well as boost Italian competitiveness abroad. Compared to most European countries, Italian consumers paid significantly more for electricity. The average electricity price for non-residential consumers in France, for example, was much lower throughout the observed period.

Italy's dependency on gas

In 2021, natural gas accounted for 43 percent of the country’s electricity mix. Overall, Italy relied on gas imports for over 90 percent of its demand. This means that the price of gas largely depends on the wholesale price rather than the domestic market. Italy’s main supplier was Russia, with over 29 billion cubic meters imported in 2021, while domestic natural gas production amounted to 3.2 billion cubic meters.