Utility bills: price rises are on the way – up 23 per cent for households, up 54 per cent for businesses

Utility bills: annual costs set to rise by 23 per cent for households and 54 per cent for businesses due to price rises expected in September. The estimate, reported by *Il Sole 24 Ore*, was produced by Nomisma Energia, which calculated the impact on tariffs following the August break based on current wholesale prices.

This is a weighted (prudential) average based on the price of the gas raw material alone, as reported by ARERA for vulnerable households (the most recent figure, for last July, stood at 60 cents per cubic metre). The 137 cents per cubic metre expected for September (compared with 106 in September 2025) would therefore mean that a typical household (consuming 1,400 cubic metres per year) would have to pay an extra 429 euros by the end of 2026 (+29% compared with 2025). The surge in gas prices is reflected in the markets: on the Amsterdam TTF at the end of July, prices once again exceeded 60 euros per MWh – a level not seen since last March due to the Strait of Hormuz crisis – and yesterday soared above 62 euros per MWh in Europe.

Rising gas prices, along with other factors (see *Il Sole 24 Ore* of 7 August), have influenced electricity prices, with wholesale prices in Italia exceeding 200 euros per MWh last week – a level not seen since January 2023. According to Nomisma Energia’s analysis, the estimated cost per kWh on September’s bill is 31.93 cents (compared with 28.75 cents in September 2026). This figure would mean that the typical household (consuming 2,700 kWh per year, excluding any increases in usage due to the use of air conditioning during these unusually hot summer months) would pay an additional 85.9 euros by the end of 2026 (+11 per cent compared with 2025). Taking both items – gas and electricity – together, the increase in household expenditure could reach 515 euros by the end of 2026 (+23 per cent on 2025).

Fuel prices deserve special mention, having followed a steep upward trajectory since the start of the war in Iran this spring. Nomisma Energia has calculated an average price of 2.017 euros per litre for September (taking petrol and diesel together), and has then compared this with the figure of 1.655 euros per litre for September 2025. Translated into the annual expenditure of a household consuming 1,000 litres of fuel over twelve months, this amounts to an extra €361.8 spent by the end of 2026 (+22% compared with 2025). Therefore, if we were to take everything into account in a single energy bill covering both utility bills and fuel, Italian households could find themselves having to pay an extra €876.8 by the end of the year compared with 2025.

Another issue is that of business utility bills, which will also be affected by the summer price rises. Nomisma Energia has also provided estimates for this. As regards gas, which remains the fastest-rising component, the forecast is for 71 cents per cubic metre, compared with 43 cents in September 2025. For a typical business consuming 2,000 cubic metres of gas annually, this could mean an additional cost of €559,318 by the end of 2026 (+65% compared with 2025).