Una valutazione delle ipotesi di revisione del Metodo Tariffario normalizzato per il servizio idrico integrato

Water is a public essential good subject to competitive uses and demands. Though the exigency to provide the service independently from consumer’s ability to pay is fundametal as far as supply is concerned, the Italian reform which the water service has undergone starting from the promulgation of national Law n. 36/1994, introduces the industrial organization of water services and the vertical integration of aqueduct systems, sewerage systems and treatment plants. The reform’s aim is to promote and accelerate investments in the water service sector. The reform introduces as well the a price cap regulation which guarantees at the same time ex-post full recovery of the service costs and an adequate capital rate of return via the pricing mechanism. The National Commitee supervising the use of water resources (Co.Vi.Ri.) has recently made a proposal of revision of the tariff mechanism (Metodo Tariffario Normalizzato) which is still to be accepted by the Governmment. The paper presents short comment on the objectives the regulator pursues via the pricing mechanism and describes regulatory rules under revision. In particular the analysis focuses on the determination of the baseline tariff: a simulation is performed over the different regulatory parameters starting from the analysis of the ATO Bacchiglione case study and the simulation’s results are presented and commented.