Cutting back on Russian gas: the case of Italy

In 2022 Italy halved its Russian gas imports (to 19% of the total) and, at the same time, tripled its exports. Furthermore, whilst at least one fifth of the electricity consumed in Italy in 2021 was generated with Russian gas, this share was reduced to around one tenth in 2022. The government has drawn up a national plan for the containment of natural gas consumption, with energy bill containment measures in Italy estimated to cost €62.8 billion in the 2021–22 two-year period. This study shows that customers reacted to high gas prices by reducing consumption over and above the Europe-an […]