In the second half of 2026, businesses in commerce, tourism, and catering will pay over one billion euros more in electricity bills.
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This is the bill that Confcommercio, with the analysis carried out together with the Centro Europa Ricerche (Cer), puts in black and white for a sector already dealing with growing consumption and pressured margins: 494 million for shops, 207 for restaurants, 164 for hotels, 111 for bars, 50 for large-scale retail.
On a quarterly basis, the energy expenditure of the market tertiary sector can rise up to 2.9 billion euros, a level reached only in 2022, right after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. The increase arises from a double effect. On one hand, electricity consumption, which rose by 15% in the third quarter compared to spring due to greater use of air conditioning during the summer.
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On the other hand, the price of energy, which in September rises more than elsewhere: the Pun, the wholesale price of electricity, marks an increase of 73.3% over the 2025 average and 271.1% over pre-Covid levels. The differential with the main European partners has thus widened to 65.3 euros per megawatt-hour compared to Germany, 67.2 euros compared to Spain, and 69.4 euros compared to France, against a gap that in 2019 did not exceed 16 euros.
What weighs on Italy is especially the energy mix. In 2025 gas covered 43.7% of national electricity production, compared to 18.2% in Spain, 17.6% in Germany, and just 3.2% in France.
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