Acea group’s customers: electricity and water services

PROSUMERS CONNECTED TO ACEA NETWORKS: +9% IN 2019

A prosumer is both a producer and consumer of energy, capable of partially or totally ensuring its own energy supply and transferring any surplus produced to the grid. This protagonist of the new energy model interacts in new ways with both the distributor and the party responsible for selling/withdrawing energy. Acea is open and proactive with regard to the forms of innovation introduced by the new energy model, and in particular to the development of the capacity of the connection, transmission and distribution systems.

As at 31.12.2019, Areti registered 13,591 active prosumers on its distribution network, more than 82% of whom (11,170) are “domestic” customers and at the same time small energy producers, while the remaining 2,421 are qualified as “other uses”, i.e. non-domestic users (businesses, professional and artisanal activities). The overall figure, up 9% compared to 12,458 prosumers active in 2018, marks a steady and regular increase over the three-year period. About 7,000 of the prosumers on the Acea network are fed Acea Energia customers. The energy injected into the grid by these subjects was 77.07 GWh in 2019, about 75% photovoltaic.

INCREASING NUMBER OF USERS OF THE ELECTRICITY SOCIAL BONUS AGAIN IN 2019

For customers who are under financial hardship, also in relation to large family numbers, and customers who because of their health require the use of energy-consuming medical equipment²⁸, ARERA, acting on the advice of the government, has made the “electricity bonus” operational, a discount applied to the cost of the electricity consumed.

In recent years, the upward trend in the number of users has confirmed the growth of social distress. In 2019 the number of Acea customers benefiting from the bonus, on both the protected market and the free market, totalled 29,894²⁹ (about 26% more compared to the 23,746 clients accepted in 2018): 29,159, equal to 98% of the total, due to financial difficulties and 735 due to physical hardship (health).

Overall, the electric bonus system saved the participating Acea Energia customers about € 3 million in annual revenues. In addition, in the region served by Areti’s distribution network there are 11,712 customers eligible for the electricity bonus (11,429 for economic hardship, 283 for physical hardship), about 28% more than the 9,174 in 2018, served for the “sales” component by companies other than Acea Energia.

SUSTAINABILITY OF WATER SERVICES: ARREARS AND WATER BONUSES

With regard to arrears, in 2019, after consulting the stakeholders, the Authority published Resolution 311/2019/R/idr containing the attached Regulation of arrears in the integrated water service (REMSI), in force since 1 January 2020. The measure introduces greater protection of residential domestic users: a provision not to stop the supply by termination of the contract and removal of the meter, except in a few well-defined cases, and a prohibition against charging penalties for reactivating the supply.

It also illustrates the categories of end users who cannot be disconnected, as well as the timing and methods of notice, deactivation, suspension, limitation and reactivation of the supply. Provisions are made to protect the accounts of apartment complexes, such as the prohibition against procedures for restriction, suspension or deactivation of the water supply against partial payments, provided that they are made within the due date and equal to at least half of the amount due.

The Area Governing Body (AGB) must promote the installation of a meter for each individual real estate unit, allowing for selective deactivation. REMSI envisages automatic compensation that is additional to any provisions for contractual quality in the event of non-compliance with the measures on the regulation of late payments.

With the new IWS User Regulation in OTA 2 Central Lazio, approved by the Conference of Mayors in July 2019, Acea Ato 2 extended the protections for “fragile” users, including resident domestic users in conditions of physical hardship among those users who cannot be disconnected.

The social water bonus, regulated by the Authority since 2017 with the approval of the application methods (TIBSI)30, provides for a discount for the supply of water to domestic users with ascertained socio-economic hardship, based on specific thresholds of the ISEE indicator31. The bonus is calculated by each operator according to family numbers (per capita basis), applying the discounted tariff to the quantity of water required to satisfy the protected amount (about 50 litres/inhabitant/day). Area Governing Bodies may introduce or confirm further measures of protection for users in financially vulnerable conditions, granting a “supplementary water bonus”.

INFORMATION CAMPAIGNS AND WATER BONUS USERS FOR ACEA GROUP COMPANIES

In 2019, Water Companies launched information campaigns on the water bonus aimed at users. In particular, to facilitate access to the discount, Acea Ato 2 launched a communications campaign aimed at residents of the capital and the metropolitan area in major Roman newspapers and information websites, produced a brochure to be distributed to citizens and posted over 4,500 posters in Rome and 90 municipalities in the province.

Acea Ato 2 also recognizes on a local basis the supplementary water bonus approved by the AGB and communicated through the aforementioned campaigns. During the year, Acea Ato 2 accepted 7,910 applications for the use of the water bonus³² for a financial value of about € 56,700. Acea Ato 5 informed users about the possibility and methods of accessing the discount, also noting the increase in the ISEE threshold defined by the Authority, and accepted 2,828 requests for the use of the bonus that generated a total financial savings for the beneficiaries of about € 63,000.

Gesesa accepted 1,324 applications for water bonuses from resident domestic users, for a financial value of about € 51,100. Between October and April 2019 Gori launched a multichannel communications campaign on the water bonus, broadcast on the company pages of Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and on Facebook “Water Bonus”.

In addition, the municipalities managed by Gori have received all the necessary informative materials from the company, both in paper and digital formats. In order to reinforce the message, a public service video was also made in which 20 mayors of municipalities in the managed area explained the operation and the requirements for access to the bonus using infographics and simple, clear language. Gori accepted 18,396 applications for water bonuses, with savings for beneficiaries of about € 511,000. Therefore, for the four Water Companies in the scope, the water bonus system saved the beneficiaries about € 682,000 in total.