Lamps off and cities in the dark (with related safety problems), cut services (from sports facilities to playrooms, from kindergartens to canteens), closed and cold offices. The high bills and the price increases of diesel and gas will inflate, and already are, the payments of the municipal administrations to excess.

"Turning off the office lights or the heating half an hour earlier are small panels on the forehead of the dying man", remarks Emiliano Deiana, president of the National Association of Italian Municipalities of Sardinia.

The "blow" of August

In various municipalities on the island, the energy bill that arrived in August made the treasurers shiver. In Oristano it went from 181 thousand euros spent in that month in 2021 to 466 thousand paid a few days ago. In Cagliari even the bill has tripled, rising from 249 thousand to 611 thousand, in Sassari from 180 thousand to 312 thousand.

The trend

The trend of Sardinian municipalities above 20 thousand residents (but clearly applies to all) is on the rise. From the Municipality of Cagliari, as of September 1, 3,678,448.76 euros have already been spent, in all of 2021 they were 4,079,100.59 and if all goes well the energy account will close with 5 million and 300 thousand euros.

In Oristano even in 9 months more has already been spent than paid in the entire past year, while in Nuoro the exact half but the forecasts are also black in this case.

"Exceptional interventions"

«Here we are facing not a local crisis, but a continental and global breaking point - underlines Emiliano Deiana - The EU needs to find an agreement on the price of gas which determines the increases in the cost of energy. In Italy - the Government and the Region - must provide for exceptional financial interventions in favor of the Municipalities to avoid local defaults or the cut in services to citizens. The interventions can be financed with the increase of VAT revenues on energy products. The same and contextual attention must be paid to citizens and businesses ”.

Energy policy

It must be said, however, to be honest, that perhaps some local administrations have not invested in renewables, for example by installing photovoltaic panels in all the roofs of public buildings, or have not replaced the old street lamps with LED lights or have not yet improved. the electricity grid.

Delays by Enel

“There are administrations that the energy communities have already set up and already produce energy from renewable sources, but they are not active. Do you know why? Why Enel does not proceed to make the connections for the plants - finally denounces the number one of Anci Sardegna - Municipalities are the institutions most ready for change. The problem is knowing what the Government and the Region are doing on matters within their competence. So far little and in a disorganized way ».

The Oristano case

The mayor of Oristano Massimiliano Sanna is already running for cover, preparing a savings plan.

«The idea we are discussing will affect several fronts, starting with the municipal offices. We are studying a time change to limit the presence of staff during the hours of natural light, so no later than 17-17.30. We must limit consumption by avoiding forgetting the lights on. The times we are facing require a few degrees less in the radiators and a more rational use of the systems. The lights on the monuments and the civic building will be turned off a few hours earlier and we will negotiate with the sports clubs to limit, if not cancel, night training, ”said the mayor.

The government plan

Meanwhile, the government has formalized the tightening in the management of heating for next winter. The National Plan expects to achieve overall savings in consumption of 8.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas.

The temperature of the heaters must be reduced by one degree, to 17 for buildings used for industrial, craft and similar activities and to 19 for all other buildings. The switching on of the heating is reduced by 15 days (postponing the start date by 8 days and bringing the end of operation date forward by 7 days) and by one hour a day for switching on.

(Unioneonline)

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