Observatory on Local Public Utilities
The Observatory works primarily on the basis of studies, assignments and research proposals from companies, government agencies, banks, and other operators. The goal is to help revitalize the Italian local public utilities system through monitoring at the national level and cross-national comparisons. Much attention is focused on current reform processes and, in particular, to those brought to light by the “Decreto Ronchi” on the privatization of local public utilities.
Sectors considered:
- Environment, waste, and recycling. Several investigations that range from benchmarks in separate waste collection, evaluation of environmental impacts, the application of environmental impact assessments. Of note is the proposal to make a portion of waste mandatorily incinerated by each region.
- Water.Here, the focus is on the proposal to revitalize the water sector in Italy, the Observatory has developed a Road Map to be pursued to this end, through the restructuring and consolidation of water companies.
- Gas and electricitySPL studies various topics in the energy sector including: the cost of producing nuclear energy, the cost of developing renewables, estimates of future gas prices, issues related to gas supply and usage, and the assessment of high voltage and very high voltage transmission systems.
- Mobility and Logistics locally and nationally. Mobility and Logistics locally and nationally. The observatory has conducted several studies that concern the local public transport sector, infrastructure development, the value of “time savings”, and estimates of the economic and environmental impacts of new highways and rail lines.
The Observatory makes use of various analysis tools that help evaluate the industry’s structure and trends, the regulatory framework, performance indicators, and corporate strategies. The sectors analyzed are the subject of cross-sectorial and international comparison. In addition, the SPL Observatory puts forward tangible policy proposals.