A winding road to market: post World War II electric tariffs in Italy

The aim of the article is to search for the reasons of the deluding outcome of the reform policy of the Italian Electrical network by an historical and theoretical approach. The article proposes a four phases periodization of the post World War II Italian experience of regulation of electricity culminating in the 1962 nationalization. Afterwards it dwells ion the phase of privatization and regulation since 1995. On the supply side, the Italian road to market shows a still large position by the former monopolist (ENEL) and a growing presence of foreign firms beside several former municipal firms traditionally active in the Italian supply of energy in Northern regions. On the tariff side, the larger competition did not reduce them as expected, due to price policy of firms to remunerate share owners and to the presence of improper items overcharging tariffs as subsidies to small consumers and to new sources of energy.