The government launched a new, temporary electric social bonus at the height of the energy crisis. It was not aimed at lowering living costs for vulnerable households, but at middle-income families. Created with a clear temporary mandate, the program lasted for just under two years and now ends without ever achieving the broad take-up the administration had hoped for.
The special social bonus for non-vulnerable families, which provided a 40% discount on electricity bills for eligible customers, was not renewed in the latest anti-crisis measures decree and expired this month. When it was introduced at the end of 2022, officials announced that up to 1.5 million households could benefit from the discount, which electric companies financed in proportion to their market share and passed on to all customers through their bills. However, actual beneficiaries never approached that target.
Official records from the Ministry for Ecological Transition show that by the end of last May only 48,175 households had enrolled in the 40% discounts, accounting for just 2.8% of the total electric social bonus benefits during the two years it was in effect.
The government has argued that the lower level of take-up compared with the potential announced reflected a voluntary measure rather than a mandatory one. The relief targeted the so-called middle class, with eligibility limited to households on the regulated electricity tariff and with annual incomes below 27,700 euros for a two-adult, two-child family, and 16,800 euros for a single-adult family.
During the crisis, and even as prices normalised, the total number of beneficiaries of the electric social bonus surged. Nearly 522,000 new families have joined the electricity bill relief over the last three years. Official records from the government and the National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC) show that, by the close of May, total beneficiaries reached 1.68 million, a 45% increase from May 2021. In the previous year alone, between May 2024 and May 2023, the number of recipient families rose by almost 190,000, up about 13%.
Normally, the electric social bonus offers rebates on electricity bills ranging from 25% to 40% depending on the level of vulnerability (vulnerable, severely vulnerable, or at risk of social exclusion). As part of crisis measures, the government temporarily raised discounts to 65% and 80% for the majority of beneficiaries. That extraordinary support remains in place, but the administration has approved a stepped reduction starting next October, eventually returning to the standard rebates by July 2025, reducing the discounts by 7.5% per quarter.
In addition, the electricity social bonus provides access to the thermal social bonus for all beneficiaries, a relief to help cover part of gas, water, and heating costs through a one-time payment of 40 to 375 euros, depending on vulnerability and climate zone. The total cost of the electric social bonus in recent years has hovered around 800 million euros annually, shared among electric operators in proportion to their market share, and then passed on to customers. The thermal social bonus amounts, which averaged about 225 million euros in the last year (peaking at 453 million during the crisis peak), are funded by the national budget.