#WORLD #WORLDWIDE #POLAND #ANARCHISM #News #Journal #Update - (en) #Poland, Workers' Initiative: What's behind the increases in electricity and gas bills? The #Italian case [machine translation]

 In Poland, there is a discussion about rising energy prices. There are alarmist

materials in the newspapers, talking about local gas price increases of over
100%. Everyone is also concerned about the prices of electricity and fuel. This
situation is not unique only to our country. A similar debate is taking place in
many other countries. As on the Vistula River, the right wing is trying to shift
responsibility for this state of affairs to ecology everywhere. To the question:
"What is behind the increases in electricity and gas bills?" - tries to answer in
his article, published on September 19, 2021 on the website of the ADL Cobas
trade union friend, Paolo de Marchi.

It begins with the statement that on September 1 this year. "Il Sole 24ore", the
Italian economic daily with a circulation of 390 thousand. copies, announced the
introduction (from October 1) of a significant increase in bills for gas (by 30%)
and electricity (by 20%). The previous one took place in July. At the same time,
the government and political forces are tearing clothes, looking for solutions
that save the home budgets of Italians, especially those with medium and low
incomes. But everyone was, writes Paolo de Marchi, "aware of this growth, just
like the previous one a few months ago."

The author points out that the alarmist statements of the Italian minister for
ecological transformation, Roberto Cingolani, and the concerns expressed by
political parties are intended to convince the public that the reason for the
increases is not too high taxes on energy, the cost of obtaining it from fossil
fuels or speculation energy companies, but some "radical ecological fashion". It
is supposed to be devoid of a practical approach to the problem and continue to
insist on "accelerating the transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources".
According to the author, minister Roberto Cingolani, from the beginning of his
term in office, regarded ecology as "a curse worse than the effects of climate
change."

Ecological transformation and energy prices

"This," Paolo de Marchi continues, "that the increase in gas and electricity
bills is part of the game played in favor of the fossil fuel lobby as part of the
apparent ecological transformation we are witnessing, can even be seen in the
articles about the increases in Il Sole 24ore." , the newspaper of the
Confederation of Italian Industries (Confindustria). For example, in the
September 14 issue, in the text entitled 'Energy - Here's Why (And How) The Bills
Are Rising', the author recalled that the increases are not only for Italy, but
for the entire industrialized world that is struggling to recover from the
pandemic, he added venomously that despite this, there is no intention to revert
to nuclear energy in Italy[...]and recalled that 'more than half
of[Italian]electricity comes from combined heat and power plants running on
methane'. The article also informs us that the increases apply to all European
countries 'regardless of the preferred energy sources, including nuclear or
renewable'. Also the United Kingdom, despite betting on wind energy, saw an
unprecedented increase in prices by more than EUR 2 per kilowatt hour due to the
lack of wind. Conclusion: 'Those who have called for years to close oil and gas
wells to reduce supply and increase prices have hit the fence with a bullet.' In
case this message is not clear, the author immediately reminds that in Italy, in
addition to various purchase costs from the manufacturer, 'there are distribution
and transport costs, taxes, additional levies, research funding fees and the
disposal of nuclear waste'[Italy has given up nuclear energy in the 1980s and
1990s, but they still incur the costs of landfilling and disposal of waste],
finally, 'renewable financing', encouraging which 'charges Italians around € 12
billion a year'. In short, the entire industrialized world is suffering from
rising energy prices, whether largely related to gas supplies or to other
sources, including renewable ones, and we[Italians]suffer because we have pushed
too much support for an expensive and the[energy]transformation that weighs down
on our wallets.

This critical stance of the Italian government and politicians on the issue of
the energy transition and blaming it for rising prices has a specific goal. This
attitude - writes Paolo de Marchi - is in line with the recent concessions
on[gas]drilling and with all the government's actions to date, aimed at not too
disturbing the life of the mines, creating financial incentives for them,
subsidizing 'under cover', and finally opening up to nuclear energy. " We can
easily see that the same is also true in Poland today.

Nuclear energy

The return to the discussion on the development of nuclear energy is particularly
interesting here. Paolo de Marchi writes: "Cingolani's proposed new nuclear
energy to be integrated with renewable energy is the result of international and
Italian military research. Prototypes of nuclear reactors are being built in
Monfalcone, and as Giorgio Ferrari recently recalled in Il Manifesto,
Enel[Italian energy company]is also interested in this production. Bill Gates
himself is interested in this technology and has founded a special company
(TerraPower); China also has its own microreactor prototypes ready. Behind the
scenes, therefore, there is feverish industrial competition to 'reclaim' the
nuclear technology to produce the energy that the world is hungry for and on
which the geopolitical balance is based. Italy wants to stay in this game.

"The minister for ecological transformation, the newspaper of the Confederation
of Italian Industry and the League[Italian political party]speak the same
language, although they put emphasis differently, pointing to renewable energy
sources and the costs of green transformation as the reasons for the increases,
proposing solutions such as nuclear energy and, above all, all by justifying
companies and international concerns of fossil fuels, which, due to their
dominant position in the energy market, speculate with prices set from the moment
of extraction to consumption, postponing the end of Italy's energy dependence on
these sources indefinitely ".

The interest of giants

Next, Paolo de Marchi refers to the opinion of the climatologist Michael E. Mann,
who writes about the new strategy of the industrial-financial-political complex
that denied climate change, and since he can no longer see its effects, today he
"tries to delay possible actions , fueling doubts about the practical
possibilities of switching to renewable and sustainable energy sources ", leaving
fossil fuel companies the power and allowing them to accumulate profits for
decades to come. "No daily newspaper, no government representative or any
political force, argues Paolo de Marchi, has not pointed out that it is the
government's delays, especially the Italian government, in carrying out the
energy transition and the transition to renewable and sustainable energy sources,

In other words, the author states that it is not the costs of transformation that
are driving the energy increases, but vice versa: its sluggish pace now makes
consumers in many countries dependent on the cost of acquiring fossil fuels:
"Contrary to what is stated in the above-mentioned article from 'Il Sole 24ore ',
the burden of incentives to stimulate the development of electricity production
from renewable sources is constantly falling in our country, falling to a level
of just over 11 billion euros, compared with 14 billion euros just a few years
ago. Delays in developing public investment in renewable energy sources mean that
currently only 35% of electricity is generated from these sources, while more
than 50% is still related to gas production. Hence the huge increases in
electricity bills.

"On the other hand, in Italy, the favorite interlocutors of Minister Cingolani in
developing the guidelines for the Recovery and Resilience[after the Covid-19
pandemic]on ecological energy conversion were the energy giants Eni, Enel, Terna
and Snam. They derive most of their huge profits from fossil fuels. So why should
we be surprised to learn that Italy could have at least 15 new combined cycle gas
power plants with a total capacity of 14 gigawatts in the next ten years? This is
the line adopted by the government in the Reconstruction Plan with regard to the
ecological transformation; line, which reflects the features of our energy
infrastructure (Italy is the country with the highest methane consumption in the
energy sector in the world) and is dictated by the interests of two real
industrial giants closely related to gas: Eni, a subsidiary of the Ministry of
Economy with over 30% government shares, and Snam, the operator of the pipelines
methane, a little over 31% of which is owned by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti[a
financial institution that is approximately 83% owned by the Italian Ministry of
Economy and Finance]. The convergent interests of public and private capital,
which can be observed, for example, in decisions to implement energy
infrastructure in Sardinia, the poorest region of Italy in this respect, are
aimed at promoting methane on the island by Snam ... "It is intended to use
offshore deposits or to import ,

Ecologically = cheaper

"The report by the independent think tank Carbon Tracker on investments in new
combined cycle power plants states: 'We have seen this movie before,' it has been
going on for 20 years. Michele Governatori, head of the energy program at ECCO,
formerly associated with Eni, co-author of the report, writes that 'despite the
fact that gross consumption peaked[...]was reached in 2005 and there has been a
significant stagnation in energy consumption and a decline since then gas
consumption, the infrastructure related to this fuel has not stopped developing,
guaranteeing a return on capital of 6.5-7% in the tariffs charged to citizens'.
In practice, through what Governatori calls 'market absorption' and through the
mechanism governing the supply of electricity mediated through futures contracts,
awarded by auction, the energy market is "disrupted and works to the advantage of
existing and new gas-fired plants", to the detriment of renewables, "Paolo de
Marchi writes that currently in Italy, in terms of prices," green energy "is
cheaper. It could become even cheaper in the next decade (EUR 47 / MWh compared
to EUR 75 / MWh for combined cycle plants). In addition to economic benefits,
there would also be environmental benefits associated with a drastic reduction in
CO2 emissions ".

"More than 80% of the new electricity installed in the world comes from
photovoltaic and wind power (IRENA data for 2021), yet Cingolani insists on
drilling permits, finding new fossil deposits and maintaining a whole system of
preferences and rebates for fuel extractors. fossil. While positive examples are
multiplying worldwide (from the beginning of 2021 in 40 California
municipalities, and soon in New York, Seattle and Vancouver, methane-heated
houses are banned; from 2040, Amsterdam wants to extend this ban to existing
houses, just to mention a few cases), Italy is moving very slowly in this
direction or is making counter-choices, such as favoring yet another important
industrial lobby, the cement industry. "

Paolo de Marchi concludes his article by stating that the Italian government is
responding to the rise in bills only with "buffer measures". Which will
ultimately not stop the rise in energy bills Italian families have to pay. "The
increase in electricity and electricity bills not only prompts us to ask about
social issues and to demand that the costs of the pandemic capitalist crisis
should not be imposed on workers and the weaker and poorer sections of the
population. It also stresses the urgent need to impose a radical change of pace
in favor of a real ecological transformation. "

Link to the full text in Italian:

https://adlcobas.it/approfondimenti/cosa-si-nasconde-dietro-agli-aumenti-delle-bollette-di-luce-e-gas/
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