The government moves forward the start of the rapid change of electricity supplier. The decree also includes more transparency on bills and new obligations for suppliers
We will still have to wait to be able to change electricity supplier within 24 hours. The so-called flash switching, which was supposed to come into force on January 1st and revolutionize the market, will have to wait a little longer. It will take more time. The option will be activated “by” next year. The postponement is contained in the legislative decree that transposes the European directive on Market Design, approved by the Council of Ministers. The new version of the text replaces the deadline “by 1 January 2026 at the latest” with “by 2026”. In other words: the rapid transition will take place, but with times yet to be defined.
Changing electricity supplier in one working day: what changes and why the times are longer
The aim of the measure remains the same: to allow domestic customers and small businesses to switch from one supplier to another in just 24 hours. Today, however, it takes on average one to two months. If the request arrives by the tenth day of the month, the change takes place on the first day of the following month; if it arrives later, you have to wait an extra month. With lightning switching, the process should have become immediate: in one working day the integrated information system, which manages the supply data, would have registered the new contract, with the first bill from the new supplier after approximately three weeks. But the timetable has gotten longer. Also pushing for the change was a correction that arrived from the European Union in mid-September: the text of the directive that Italy had implemented in 2021 was corrected, and the deadline for introducing the change in 24 hours was increased from “no later than 1 January 2026” to “no later than 2026”. Rome adapted accordingly.
Now it is up to the Regulatory Authority for Energy, Networks and the Environment to establish when the new system will become effective and also to define the rules to avoid incorrect behaviour, such as the so-called “energy tourism”, i.e. the continuous switching from one supplier to another in search of temporary discounts or to circumvent the payment of overdue bills.
More transparent bills and new obligations for suppliers: what the decree provides
The decree that postpones the flash switching also provides for a series of innovations regarding transparency and consumer rights. Bills, for example, will have to become clearer and more legible. Suppliers will be obliged to indicate in detail the individual components of the energy price, active promotions and additional services. Another novelty concerns contracts. Companies will no longer be able to unilaterally change the economic conditions or duration of fixed-term and fixed-price contracts. In practice, if a customer signs a contract with a certain rate and duration, these cannot be changed without his consent. Furthermore, suppliers will not be able to dissolve the contract before it expires.
