Free electricity and gas market: what will happen during the transitional phase

The mandatory passage to the free electricity and gas market , which was set for 1 January 2023, has been postponed to 2024. The new official date on which the protected market will be officially abolished for all customers (businesses and households) is January 1, 2024 .

A piece of news that certainly does not catch you unprepared, as it is by no means the first time in which there is a change in the date relating to the end of the protected market. The latter was again marked by a series of price increases .

In fact, in the first quarter of 2022 there was a record increase equal to:

• + 48% in the case of light;
• + 61% in the case of gas.

Towards the end of the Greater Protection

Despite the new shift of the compulsory free market to 2024 , there are many customers who they have already chosen to switch to the free market for energy and natural gas, in order to be able to counter the increase in costs.

The first postponement actually dates back to an amendment of 2018, by which the end of the greater protection had been postponed to 1 July 202. Subsequently there were 2 other postponements, up to the current one provided for with an amendment to the decree milleproroghe 2021 .

The decision to allow more time to pass before the definitive switch to the free market is also linked to the low consumer awareness and the fact that, at present, it is not yet clear how the transition period should work.

For SMEs, the free market is already official from 1 January 2021, while domestic customers will have the option of waiting another two years: the exit path still generates various perplexities .

The transition to the free electricity and gas market is actually a very simple procedure to complete, also characterized by the fact that:

• does not include costs;
• occurs without an interruption in the supply of electricity or gas (so, for example, the meter will not have to be replaced).

In addition, the new will take care of the bureaucratic part supplier who was chosen to save money.

Discover the best offers available on the free market today

What if not do you go to the free market?

As mentioned in the previous lines, it is not yet clear what the fate of those customers will be who, as of January 1, 2024, have not yet chosen a electricity and gas tariff on the free market . Will there be a moment of transition, or momentary coexistence between the two markets?

There could be consequences in terms of penalties for late customers? At the moment everything is still to be defined with absolute certainty: there will undoubtedly be a gradual path to comply with the EU directive 2019/944.

What is known at this time is that provisional allocation of a supplier, for a duration of 6 months . The offer will be of type PLACET , acronym for Free Price with Equivalent Protection Conditions, the price of which is based on the average of the final values ​​of the PUN, or the Single Price National.

If in these 6 months the domestic customer does not activate one of the electricity and gas offers available on the market free, then it will pass to the so-called “fully operational phase” , or the PLACET offer will be automatically activated of the local supplier selected with auction tenders.

However, this is a procedure that could be upset over the next two years, precisely because at the regulatory level no precise rules to be respected have yet been given.

Which is the cheapest gas and electricity supplier

As the free market works

The free market is regulated, as the name suggests, by free competition : this means that every supplier that operates there will have the opportunity to sell electricity and gas at the best price. .

Considering that the cost of the raw material is the only element of the bill that can be changed, the he analysis of the various managers present in this market is very important to understand which will allow to save more than the protected market .

In the latter, the price is established by ARERA on a quarterly : this means that if the price has increased on 1 January, the increase will also be present in the February and March bills.

The promotions of the free market, then, are characterized by various discounts, for example those that are applied in the case of bank domiciliation of invoices or electronic bills.

In general, in a period in which ir commissions on raw materials light and gas have reached unprecedented peaks, it is useful to consider offers that propose:

• the price locked for at least 12 months (there are also offers with fixed monthly payments);
• the possibility of activate an electricity and gas promotion with the same supplier.