Adnkronos Rome, 17 June (Adnkronos) – Over 4,3 million euros of funds committed and more than 9 thousand people helped. These are the numbers of the 2024 social balance sheet that emerged today during the seventh Plenary of the Signatories of the manifesto “Together to combat energy poverty”, the initiative launched in 2021 by the Fondazione Banco dell'energia, a philanthropic body that has among its objectives that of supporting vulnerable people and families at risk of poverty through the implementation of solidarity projects.
35% of the funds raised were used in support projects, which provide for the payment of bills from any energy operator to vulnerable families or individuals; 17% in the Renewable and Solidarity Energy Communities (Cers), the social energy community model that involves vulnerable families and businesses and is aimed at non-profit organizations with the aim of pooling the incentives obtained for social projects in the territories; 27% were invested in energy efficiency and another 20% in projects that combine support and energy efficiency, dedicated to third sector structures, in order to limit consumption and environmental impact, allowing the same organizations to allocate the resources saved to help those in difficulty, as well as in the creation of Cooling Centers, for vulnerable people and families most exposed to the phenomenon of summer heat waves. All Banco dell'energia projects are integrated with training courses with energy saving education sessions.
During the meeting, the research "Italians and energy poverty" was presented, with the findings of May 2025, and the first significant data concern the climate of strong economic uncertainty spread by the current geopolitical context. The study shows that "in the perception of Italian families, the impact of energy costs on family budgets is strong and they are aware of the link between these and what is happening in the world: 77% of those interviewed are convinced that global tensions have an impact on energy costs and 66% add that this impact also concerns the resulting market speculation, influencing the prices of oil and energy in advance. In general, there is growing dissatisfaction with their economic situation (55%), largely due to the increase in the cost of living - 60% struggle to make ends meet at the end of the month, and 39% have had to make sacrifices to avoid expenses and this translates into difficulty in saving. Regarding domestic utilities, concern about being able to pay all the bills in the next few years is growing again, which responds to the general concern of a significant percentage of Italians (77%) about the increase in electricity and gas costs. This picture evidently leads to a greater awareness of energy poverty, a figure that is rising again after a year in which it seemed scaled down: 2/3 of those interviewed think that it affects the country significantly and that in the future the problem will continue to worsen".