Free market or service with gradual protections, which is more convenient on the bill

For 4.5 million families, the time has come to choose whether to move to the free market as required by law or not to carry out any operations, thus accepting the transition to the service with gradual protections.
For those who do not switch to the free market, therefore, there will be no interruption in supply: they will simply be automatically assigned to a new supplier (which varies based on the area of residence) who applies a tariff with the same conditions as the Placet offers provided in the free market.
In this regard, given the approach of the deadline of 1 January 2024 regarding the supply of gas, it is good to ask ourselves about the costs expected in the free market by comparing them with those of the gradual protection service, so as to understand what should be done to pay more less.
As explained several times, the problem with the gradual protection service is that the customer does not have the right to choose and has to settle for the imposed tariff, while in the free market there are dozens of different suppliers and hundreds of possible promotions available.
But once this aspect is taken away, are we so sure that between one and the other the free market is really recommended? Let's clarify by comparing the expected prices depending on the case.
Free market or service with gradual protections, what is better? At the moment, as explained by La Stampa, for the gradual protection service the following prices must be taken into account: 45.5089 cents for dispatching charges; 5.254 cents for the Alpha component (to cover further costs established by Arera); annual marketing and sales cost of 150 euros, therefore 12.50 euros per month.
Therefore, considering an average expense for gas of 1,400 cubic meters per year, a cost of just over 70 euros should be considered for just the three aforementioned items.
Let's instead take an offer from the free market (it being understood that there are hundreds of tariffs so it is complicated to analyze them all).
The example given by the newspaper includes the following costs: 45.5089 cents; 15 cent spread annual marketing and sales cost of 180 euros, therefore 15 euros per month.
With the same consumption, therefore, the cost is approximately 85 euros.
More convenient gradual protection service? For the moment, therefore, the gradual protection service appears to be more convenient, which means that it may not be necessary to make the transition to the free market.
However, we cannot say this with certainty, precisely because in the competitive regime the customer can choose from hundreds of offers and promotions: therefore, there could also be a better rate than that of the gradual protection service.
Just find it.
Without forgetting that offers on the free market are subject to continuous change: with the arrival of around 4 million customers, companies could therefore lower prices so as to be more competitive.
In this regard, when looking for an offer, always pay attention to the three items indicated above, i.e.
the cost of energy, the spread (which varies depending on the company) and the marketing and sales costs.
Only from a complementary analysis of these three elements can you answer the question of which is the best offer.
It is now too late to avoid the transition to the gradual protection service in January 2024.
Before concluding, we would like to underline that in any case those who have not yet made the transition to the free market will transition, albeit for a limited period, to the gradual protection service.
The change of operator must in fact be carried out by the 10th day of the previous month.
The time to change supply starting from January 2024 expired on December 10th: this means that those who are currently in the protected market in January will automatically switch to the gradual protection service.
To move to the free market in February, a supply change must therefore be made by the deadline of January 10th.
But remember, unlike what happened in the protected market, those who leave the gradual protection service to move to the free market will never be able to go back.