A new aid against the cost of energy is preparing to enter the system of support intended for families and small economic activities, but this time the mechanism will be different compared to the bill bonuses to which Italians have become accustomed in recent years, because the resources will come from the European Union’s Social Climate Fund and will have to be used not only to stem the increase in bills, but also to structurally reduce the energy vulnerability of those who have less economic possibilities to face the transition.
The topic acquires particular weight during the summer, when the ordinary expenditure for energy is added to that necessary to cool homes during increasingly long and intense periods of heat. It is no coincidence that the European regulation establishing the Fund expressly considers, among the financeable interventions, also the decarbonisation and efficiency of the heating and cooling systems of buildings, together with renovations, renewable sources and direct income support measures.
The most important news, however, concerns the possible beneficiaries. The future aid is not designed exclusively for families who already fall within the ISEE thresholds of social bonuses, but for a much broader European category of subjects considered vulnerable, which can also include low and medium-low income families who, although not necessarily in conditions of absolute poverty, suffer significantly from the increase in energy costs and do not have the resources necessary to make their homes more efficient. Alongside them, vulnerable micro-enterprises also appear for the first time in a structural manner.
What is the new energy bonus linked to the Social Climate Plan
The measure is based on the Social Climate Fund, established by the European Union to accompany the introduction of the new ETS2 emissions trading system and prevent the cost of the energy transition from falling mainly on the most economically fragile groups.
The Fund operates in the period 2026-2032 and can finance interventions aimed at vulnerable families, vulnerable micro-enterprises and transport users most exposed to the increase in prices linked to the transition. The tools allowed include the energy requalification of properties, the insulation of buildings, the replacement of heating and cooling systems, the installation of systems powered by renewable energy, access to less polluting forms of mobility and, for families in difficulty, even temporary forms of direct income support.
It is precisely within this framework that Italy has already provided by law for the possibility of introducing specific investment and support measures for vulnerable families and micro-enterprises. The Bills decree of 2025 establishes that a share of no more than 50 percent of available resources can be allocated to these interventions, with flexible and diversified instruments based on the trend of energy prices, so as to allow immediate interventions when access to essential energy services becomes more difficult.
It is from this prediction that what is already referred to as the new energy bonus is born, even if at the moment it is more correct to talk about a future support system: amounts, specific requirements, possible ISEE thresholds and disbursement methods have not yet been definitively established.
Who will be able to receive the new 2026 energy bonus
The difference compared to the current social bonus is important. Today, from 1 January 2026, the social bonus for economic hardship is automatically recognized to families with an ISEE not exceeding 9,796 euros, while the threshold remains at 20 thousand euros for families with at least four dependent children. For electricity the ordinary concession is equivalent to a reduction equal to 30 percent of the average user’s expenditure, while for gas the discount corresponds to 15 percent of the expenditure net of taxes.
The Social Climate Plan instead starts from a more complex definition of vulnerability. According to the European regulation, not only families already in conditions of energy poverty are considered vulnerable, but also those with low or medium-low income who are significantly affected by the increase in energy prices and do not have the economic means necessary to redevelop the building in which they live.
This means that the future audience could go beyond that of the current recipients of the social bonus. However, it is not enough to have an ISEE higher than 9,796 euros to automatically be entitled to the new support: the Italian Plan, once defined and approved, will establish how to translate the European notion of vulnerability into concrete and verifiable requirements.
The objective is to intercept that segment of families who risk being crushed between two extremes, because they have an income that is too high to access some traditional welfare tools, but too low to easily support high bills, insulation work, replacement of fixtures, installation of heat pumps or other investments necessary to permanently reduce consumption.
Micro-enterprises are also included in the new aid
Another substantial difference concerns businesses. The European regulation considers a microenterprise to be a business with fewer than ten employees and an annual turnover, or an annual balance sheet total, not exceeding 2 million euros. To be considered vulnerable, however, it is not enough to fall within these dimensions: the company must be significantly exposed to the increase in prices linked to building or transport consumption and not have sufficient resources to redevelop the properties used, purchase zero or low emission vehicles or switch to more sustainable mobility systems.
It is an important extension compared to the traditional conception of the bill bonus as an essentially family tool, especially in a country like Italy characterized by a very high presence of small and very small businesses, for which a sudden growth in expenses for electricity, heating, air conditioning or fuel can directly impact economic margins.
Even in this case it does not mean that all Italian micro-enterprises will receive a contribution, but that the Plan will have to identify those most exposed and build specific tools to accompany them.
It won’t necessarily just be a discount on your bill
Defining the measure simply as a “bill bonus” also risks being simplistic. The Social Climate Fund was created with a different approach compared to the emergency aid distributed during the phases of greatest price increases: a part of the resources can be used for direct and temporary economic support, but Brussels wants a large part of the investments to serve to remove the structural causes of energy poverty.
This means that, alongside any immediate contributions intended to reduce the cost of energy, there may be room for incentives for the renovation of less efficient buildings, interventions on social housing, new heating and cooling systems, heat pumps, photovoltaics, storage systems and energy communities. The European Fund also allows temporary direct income support, but limits its weight to prevent the entire program from turning into a simple succession of bonuses.
The logic, therefore, is twofold: intervene immediately when a family is no longer able to bear the cost of essential energy services and, at the same time, reduce the consumption necessary to heat or cool the same home over time.
When the new energy bonus starts
It is here that it is necessary to distinguish between the launch of the European Fund and the concrete arrival of the benefit in the homes of Italians. The Social Climate Fund has been operational at European level since 2026 and will finance measures until 2032, but the resources are not automatically distributed to citizens: each state must prepare a national social plan, obtain the green light from the European Commission and reach the agreed objectives and milestones before being able to receive payments.
As of 7 August 2026, on the page with which the European Commission updates the status of the national plans, Italy is not yet among the countries whose Plan has been formally presented and subjected to the evaluation phase, while other States have already obtained approval or started the formal process.
Consequently, talking about a bonus that “starts in 2026” requires caution. 2026 is the year from which the resources of the new European Fund are available, but there is currently no national date already set in which Italian families will automatically receive a new credit on their bills.
First, the Italian Plan, the individual measures, the beneficiaries, any economic requirements and the operating methods must be defined. Only then will it be possible to know whether part of the support will be recognized through the bill, through application, through incentives for energy interventions or through a combination of several instruments.
Not to be confused with the bonuses already active in 2026
The future aid of the Social Plan for the climate must therefore be kept separate from the benefits already operational. In addition to the ordinary social bonus, in 2026 an extraordinary contribution of 115 euros was also provided for customers who were holders of the electricity social bonus on the date established by the Energy decree, with a maximum allocation of 315 million euros.
They are different instruments, financed and built according to different rules. The new bonus linked to the Social Plan for the climate should have a broader horizon and above all a less emergency function, because it was created to protect those who risk suffering the most from the cost of the European energy transformation.
For families, therefore, the most interesting news is not yet the amount of an allowance that must be established, but the broadening of the very concept of vulnerability. Not only those who are already below the lowest ISEE thresholds, but potentially also those who live just above those limits and in any case do not have the economic capacity to simultaneously face high bills and the investments necessary to make their home less energy-intensive.
The new 2026 energy bonus, therefore, exists for now above all as a regulatory and financial framework, while its definitive form has yet to be written. The European resources are available, the Italian legislator has already established that a significant portion can be used for vulnerable families and micro-enterprises, but to know who will actually receive the aid, how much it will be worth and from which date it will be necessary to wait for the completion of the Italian Plan. Precisely this step will determine whether the new Fund will be able to become something other than yet another temporary bonus, transforming itself instead into a tool capable of lastingly reducing the burden of energy on the budgets of families and the most fragile businesses.
