Italy's gas price rises 9.1% in October for vulnerable customers

Wholesale rise lifts October gas prices

Arera, Italy's energy regulator (the Autorità di regolazione per energia reti e ambiente), said the gas price for October 2026 rose 9.1% on September after wholesale quotations climbed sharply. The increase applies to the roughly 2.3 million customers still in the vulnerability protection service, for whom the gas commodity price alone is 88.36 euros per megawatt hour. For the new typical customer, a family using 1,100 cubic metres a year, the reference price reached 176.80 cents per cubic metre, also up 9.1% on September. Arera calculates the commodity component from the monthly average of the Italian wholesale market (the PSV day ahead), published within the first two working days of the following month.

How the 176.80 cents is split

Arera breaks the reference price into five parts. Gas supply and related activities account for 97.06 cents, or 54.9% of the bill. Taxes take 41.68 cents (23.57%), while distribution, metering, transport and related services come to 27.25 cents (15.41%). Retail sale costs 5.83 cents (3.3%), and system charges come to 4.98 cents (2.82%).

Gas supply and related activities97.06

Taxes41.68

Distribution, metering and transport27.25

Retail sale5.83

System charges4.98

Gas supply and related activities

97.06 cents per cubic metre

Taxes

41.68 cents per cubic metre

Distribution, metering and transport

27.25 cents per cubic metre

Retail sale

5.83 cents per cubic metre

System charges

4.98 cents per cubic metre

Data from the article text

Consumer groups call it a record

The Unione Nazionale Consumatori (UNC) said the gas price, taxes included, has never been this high. Marco Vignola, the group's vice president, put it this way:

“A historic record. Never has the price of gas, taxes included, been so high.”

Vignola said December 2022, which had topped the ranking for years after the war in Ukraine began, now ranks third, behind September and October. He also noted that the raw material costs less than it did then, 94.5436 cents per cubic metre against 124.7659 cents in December 2022, which is 24.2% less.

December 2022124.766

October 202694.544

December 2022

124.7659 cents per cubic metre

October 2026

94.5436 cents per cubic metre

Data from the article text

Vignola blamed the government response. He said the Draghi government in 2022 zeroed system charges and cut VAT to 5%, while the current Meloni government "continues to do nothing" and the budget law contains no measures on bills. Assoutenti, another consumer group, called the rise "a new blow for Italian consumers".

What it means for household bills

UNC applies the 9.1% rise to the typical household and arrives at 163 euros more a year (162.58 euros). The estimate assumes prices stay constant for the next 12 months. Gas spending from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027 would reach 1,945 euros, which with 869 euros for electricity gives an annual energy bill of 2,814 euros. Against October 2020, the group says the gas price is 162.9% higher, and against December 2022, on a recalculated historical series, it is 16.8% higher. These are the group's own calculations, not figures from Arera.