Il mercato elettrico tra vulnerabilità e sostenibilità

Starting from considering energy services as a tool for social inclusion, the paper deals with examining the discipline recently introduced by Legislative Decree 8 November 2021, n. 210, in implementation of Directive 44/2019/EU, inspires the organization and regulation of the electricity market to the principle of the necessary protection of vulnerable costumers in conditions of energy poverty. To guarantee this category of customers the necessary electricity supply, the legislator has introduced the notion of “vulnerable customer” relevant in the electricity market into the national regulatory framework, outlining a protection system based on administrative price regulation mechanisms, which it translates into a temporary derogation from the European Union principle of fully liberalised market liberalization. The contribution also highlights that the measures necessary to protect vulnerability introduced by the new legislative decree are also developed with a view to greater involvement of vulnerable customers in the dynamics of the market and the energy transition process. From this point of view, the choice of the legislator to promote the social aims of the Citizen Energy Communities assumes central importance.