Assoelettrica chief slams Italy's power pricing system

Testa says two-tiered prices creates 'electrical poverty'

(ANSA) - Rome, May 14 - The president of the Italian electrical association Assoelettrica on Monday condemned distortions created by Italy's two-tiered pricing system for imposing a kind of "electrical poverty" on consumers. "The conditions for benefiting from the D2, the apparently subsidized tariff, seem to belong to the Italy that once was," said Chicco Testa at an annual assembly in Rome, explaining that the lower tariff benefits only "residents with power not exceeding 3 kW".

Testa added that just turning on an air conditioner would exceed the limit, forcing consumers to pay "not in proportion to their greater energy use, but bouncing directly to another category, the D3, in which the unitary cost for the kWh is almost double". Thus a family of four with normal electrical consumption could not enjoy the subsidized tariff, he said.

Testa concluded that he doubted whether the subsidized D2 tariff "truly defends consumers and doesn't instead force them - if they don't want to lose benefits - to a sort of electrical poverty that conflicts with the benefits and betterment of quality of life that can result from the use of electricity".