Electricity, in the first four months of 2026, shifting electricity consumption from the most expensive hours to the central hours of the day would have allowed a cost reduction from 5% up to almost 69%, with a price cut of up to 59 euros per MWh. An aggregate demand reduction of 2-5 GW, about 5-10% of the Italian load, could potentially reduce the Pun, the wholesale price, by 30-50 euros per MWh during the affected hours, equal to a reduction in the order of 10-30%.
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This is the effect of demand flexibility on wholesale electricity markets according to estimates by Flexit, a newly formed Italian association, a branch of the European group SmartEn, which brings together companies in this sector: retailers, aggregators, technology producers, such as Enel, Octopus Energy, Energy Pool, Ariston, Ntt Data.
“There is an urgency to activate this potential, especially in the current context of seeking quick solutions to reduce energy bills for families and businesses,” explains Michael Villa, president of Flexit and general manager of SmartEn. Today the electricity price (Pun Index Gme) reached 224 euros per MWh, a level not seen since December 2022.
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Demand flexibility
But what is demand-side flexibility (Dsf)? It is the ability of consumers to activate themselves, responding to external signals, and to adjust their energy production and consumption dynamically over time, both individually and through the support of market operators (retailers and aggregators).
These flexumers, as they are called (after prosumers: electricity producer-consumers, after installing panels on their roofs), can indeed lower their bill costs by exploiting daily price variability (with dynamic electricity tariffs). But above all: if they join together with others, shifting large volumes of demand and flattening consumption peaks, they can lead to an overall reduction in the wholesale price, driven by cheaper technologies. They also reduce the risk of curtailment, that is the cutting of renewable production when there is not enough demand (which increased in 2025, but is still low in Italy: 640 GWh of wind stopped out of 21 TWh produced and 162 GWh of solar out of 44 TWh). They should also help the system manage load peaks.
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