Il tormentato cammino dell'energia elettrica in Italia. Alcune considerazioni a sessant'anni dalla nazionalizzazione

The electricity market has been the subject of numerous disputes and developments. In this work, an attempt is made to observe the milestones of the above mentioned market, and, in particular the changes made by the Italian legislator with the 1962 law nationalising the entire sector. Following the introduction of supernational constraints and the strengthening competition rules, the legal monopoly was dismantled in favour of the free market and the broader participation of private economic operators. In this way, electricity, understood as an essential public service of general interest, was liberalised and subject to free competition in the market. As the economic strategy changed, the rules also changed: independent administrative authorities were introduced and new jurisdictional functions were assigned to the Italian administrative judge, who became, according to some doctrine, a judge of the market. This relieved the State of its economic and social responsibilities, and confined its role at ensuring the full functioning of free competition. Within this framework, administrative law and its judge are called upon to take decisions that also affect the relevance of the public interest in the various disputes. This interest is increasingly jeopardised by the laws of the competitive market and by the absence of a strong State in sectors of primary interest in the economy, such as the electricity sector. It is in this direction that the following refections are developed, namely on the advisability, at times of great energy and financial crisis, of a new state intervention in the economy and of a new role for administrative law.