ROME, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Italy approved a set of measures on Wednesday worth roughly 3 billion euros ($3.54 billion) to cut wholesale energy prices, government officials said, in a bid to protect
Italy adopts $3.5 billion package to cut wholesale energy prices, officials say
ROME, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Italy approved a set of measures on Wednesday worth roughly 3 billion euros ($3.54 billion) to cut wholesale energy prices, government officials said, in a bid to protect families' purchasing power and support business competitiveness.
Power costs in Italy are significantly higher than in France and Spain, as the country is heavily dependent on energy imports and therefore vulnerable to changes in international prices and geopolitical tensions.
The government wants to narrow the difference, or "spread" between wholesale gas prices on an Amsterdam hub, and those in Italy, where more than 40% of electricity is produced with gas.
Depending on market trends, the wholesale price for natural gas traded on the Italian market, the PSV, is normally higher than the TTF, which is traded in Amsterdam, by some 2-4 euros per megawatt hour.
($1 = 0.8463 euros)
(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte, editing by Gavin Jones)
