Electricity and Gas Providers in Italy

A little bit of context: the energy authority (ARERA)

The Italian energy market has progressively been liberalized in the last few years, first for the biggest industrial consumers and then for all households. For decades, Italy’s energy has been provided by big public monopolies. Nowadays, residential consumers can freely choose their providers for electricity and gas on the free market or they also can take to the regulated tariffs, managed by the energy Authority, the ARERA.

ARERA is the Italian Regulatory Authority for Energy, Networks and Environment, it carries out regulatory and supervisory activities in the sectors of electricity, natural gas, water services, waste cycle and district heating.

Established by law No. 481 of 1995, ARERA is an independent administrative authority that operates to ensure the promotion of competition and efficiency in public utility services and protect the interests of users and consumers.

It also provides advisory services to the Government and the Parliament in matters within its competence, also for the purposes of defining, transposing and implementing EU legislation.

Electricity

Electricity in Italy, as in the rest of Europe, comes out of the wall socket at 220 volts, this is very important if you bring home appliances from your old house.
According to ARERA estimates, the electricity bill for a domestic consumer is divided as follows:

• Cost of electricity
• Cost of distribution and metering
• Cost of system charges
• Taxes

To avoid getting lost in the middle of your energy utility bureaucracy, it is useful to have a look at how things work regarding your power supplier:

Distribution

It is a complex network of infrastructure that allows the transport of electricity to the end-user. Through the primary substations, which transform high voltage electricity into medium voltage electricity, to the secondary substations (from medium voltage to low voltage) and the transformers. The distribution companies, operating under concessions, operate local, low-voltage electricity grids and maintain them.

Suppliers comparison

The energy supplier is the company that sent you the bill to pay. You can choose the electricity supplier that you prefer.

The main suppliers are:

Gas Supplay Chain in Italy

The gas supply chain in Italy is divided into four steps:

• Supply: the first phase is the production (extraction on the national territory) and the import of gas. In Italy, 10% of gas is produced, while 90% is imported from abroad. Transportation: transportation is managed by Snam Rete Gas. The transport network is then divided into the National network which connects the national entry points ( to the Regional transport network which includes the pipes that connect the national network to the consumption centers.
• Storage and dispatching: this is the conservation of gas to ensure peak demand, for example in the winter. Dispatching serves to maintain the balance between supply and demand and to ensure supply to all consumers.
• Wholesale: shippers buy gas from importers or producers and resell it to industries, thermoelectric power plants, and the sales company.
• Distribution: this phase involves the delivery of gas to end customers and takes place through local gas pipelines. There are about 700 distributors.
• Providers: it is managed by the sales companies and consists of selling gas to end customers.

Energy and Gas Offers Comparison