The expensive energy explained with small data
What small data say The data extracted from the bills say that the price of electricity has substantially quintupled in the space of 20 months, from 7 to 38 cents per kilowatt hour . An increase that the Draghi government has tried to mitigate by introducing a series of measures, from the elimination of rates to aid for families in difficulty. This is the trend shown in a graph.
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Click here if you do not see the graph The data refers to a contract with bi-hourly rate which is part of the greater protection. In other words, in a contract for the supply of electricity that has not yet made the transition to the free market and whose price is defined quarterly by Arera, the Regulatory Authority for energy, networks and the environment.
How to do it you can see from the graph (F1 refers to consumption between 8 and 19, F23 to those at other times of the day), the cost per kilowatt hour of electricity had already started to rise significantly in the middle of last year. That is at least six months before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In January of this year, when the outbreak of a war seemed increasingly probable, the most significant increase was recorded, with the price in the F1 range going from 21 to 38 cents. A sum five times higher than that expected at the end of 2020.
The reasons for the increase There are basically two reasons behind this increase in energy costs. The first is linked to the resumption of economic activities after the stops imposed to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. The increase in demand for electricity, in other words, has also brought with it an increase in its price.
The other reason is instead an indirect consequence of Russian military actions. Moscow is in fact the main supplier of gas to Europe in general and to Italy in particular. A resource that has become, on both sides of what was once called the Iron Curtain, an element of the diplomatic confrontation between the government of President Vladimir Putin and the Western ones.
But why the price increase Does gas also increase electricity? The answer is always found in the bill. In which are published the data, it is true updated to 2020, relating to the composition of the energy mix relating to the supply of the most protected
market. That is, how the energy that powers the homes of those who have signed a contract of this type is produced. This is what the data says.
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Click here if you don't see the graph As you can see, the main source of energy production electricity destined for the major market is represented by gas. In the specific case, it is 77.46%. This explains why the increase in the cost of the latter is also reflected in the price of kilowatt hours.
For the same reason, in recent weeks we are talking about the possibility of decoupling the price of gas from that of electricity . That is to allow operators to establish the amount of electricity in their bills on the basis of production costs. A measure that should lead to a reduction in the expenses incurred by families and businesses, especially if they have signed contracts on the free market with companies that have a significant share of production from renewable sources: sun and wind, unlike gas, are free.
