Energy bills: the budget helps businesses pay for electricity. From 2029 the cost passes to other consumers, inside the renewables charge
9 November 2026, 16:07
The 2027 budget bill, which Parliament has begun to examine, has a thought for Italian industry. Articles 82 and 83 refund up to half of the average wholesale price of power, on part of annual consumption: from 2027 to small and medium-sized enterprises, from 2028 also to energy-intensive companies, the firms that use enormous amounts of energy. In return, those receiving the support must invest at least as much in renewable plants, storage and efficiency. In 2027 and 2028 the cost stays with the public accounts; from 2029 the text points to another till, the component of the general system charges that, on electricity bills, funds renewable sources. For the first two years the discount is paid by the Treasury; from the third, by whoever switches on the light.
Followed through, the scheme goes round in a circle. Whoever pays the bill supports renewables; that money pays the discount for businesses; to obtain it, businesses must invest in renewables. The only one that at some point steps out is the State, which drew the circle.
Gas takes the same road. Article 81 supports producers of biomethane, the gas obtained from farm waste and organic refuse, and for 2029 and 2030 it puts investment grants, €300 million a year, on natural gas tariffs. Adding power and gas together, the spending ceilings written into the law reach €1.7 billion in 2029 and €1.5 billion in 2030, that is €3.2 billion over two years. The businesses admitted to the aid and the biomethane producers collect it; the other consumers, starting with households, will pay it. How far to raise the charge and how to split the bill among the categories will be decided by Arera, the authority that regulates energy tariffs. Entered in the public budget, that spending would have needed funding, meaning taxes or cuts put to a vote; moved onto the bill, a tariff update decided by an authority is enough.
The timing, moreover, speaks for itself. According to Codacons, at current prices a household with a variable-price gas contract will pay on average about €860 this winter, €205 more than last season. The Council of Ministers has postponed twice, on 28 October and 5 November, the decree meant to curb price rises, and the cap it contains concerns the gas burned in power stations and would only apply from 2027. To lighten the bills, in short, two sittings were not enough for the government; to load them from 2029, three articles were.
Support for producers has its reasons, because for many companies electricity is among the heaviest costs. The point is who pays for it. Paid through taxes, it is shared by taxpayers in proportion to income; loaded onto the bill, it is split among consumers according to use, and two households that use the same amount pay the same sum, whether a minimum pension or a manager's salary comes into the home. It is a tidy way of making those who have less pay more, relative to what they earn, without writing it into any tax table.
From 2029 the renewables charge will go on being called that: the only thing that changes is who collects part of it.
This article was prompted by a news item published in Il Fatto Quotidiano on 9 November 2026.