The owner of a cannery near the port of Salerno, in southern Italy, received an electricity bill of one million euros, almost ten times more than in the same period last year. Businessman Francesco Francese published the two electricity bills for July 2022 and the comparative month for 2021 on social media.
According to the businessman, the invoice a year ago was an “acceptable” value of 120 thousand euros, since July and August are the hot phase of tomato processing. The July 2022 electricity bill of 978 thousand euros, on the other hand, surprised and outraged the manufacturer, who published a bitter comment in addition to the photos of the bills. “While our politicians compete for a seat in Parliament, business people are left alone in the middle of the energy jungle,” wrote Francese.
Italian families and businesses are plagued by high energy prices
Many Italian entrepreneurs are saddled with high energy prices. The owner of a pizzeria near the northern Italian town of Cremona has issued his latest utility bills to justify the higher prices of his dishes. The innkeeper hung a photocopy of his latest bill in the window of his pizzeria in Roncadello. “I have to charge 10 euros for a Margherita pizza or I have to close the place,” said Alberto Rovati, owner of the Funky Gallo pizzeria.
In the month of July, he had to pay an electricity bill of 4,000 euros, 300% higher than in July 2021, when he had to pay 1,350 euros. “By showing the bill, I don’t want to scare my customers, I want to signal that things can’t go on like this,” says Rovati.
Italian families and businesses are plagued by high energy prices. Two weeks ago, the government of former prime minister Mario Draghi launched an aid package with support measures in the order of 14 billion euros to cushion the negative effects of high energy prices. However, these are classified as inappropriate by entrepreneurs.