Electricity and Gas Retail Companies

The context

The retail supply of electricity and gas to end customers in Italy is a market open to competition, yet one in which regulated arrangements remain. The end of the regulated price arrangements, first for small businesses and then for non-vulnerable household customers (gas from January 2024, electricity from July 2024), has moved millions of customers onto the free market, while vulnerable customers continue to be served under the protected regime. Household customers who have not chosen a supplier are guided towards the free market by the Servizio a Tutele Graduali, the gradual protection service that runs for the period set by the regulator. Competition is played out on price, service quality and the ability to win customers properly. At the same time, volatility in wholesale prices has made margins more fragile and the management of credit risk more important.

The regulatory framework is dense and changes frequently. ARERA, the Italian energy regulator, governs commercial conduct, the quality of retail services, billing, arrears, bill contents and automatic compensation payments; AGCM, the Italian competition authority, acts on unfair commercial practices and unrequested supplies under the Italian Consumer Code; the Italian Data Protection Authority (Garante) oversees telemarketing, the public opt-out register and the processing of consumption data, which second-generation meters make ever more granular. The Ministry for the Environment and Energy Security (MASE) issues the authorisation to sell natural gas (Article 17 of Italian Legislative Decree 164/2000) and keeps the register of parties authorised to sell electricity provided for by Italian Law 124/2017: requirements that have to be maintained over time, not merely demonstrated on entry.

Acquirente Unico, the Italian single buyer, operates the Integrated Information System (SII), through which switching, changes of contract holder and metering flows pass. It also runs the consumer help desk for energy and the environment, together with the conciliation service (Servizio Conciliazione), where an attempt at conciliation is a mandatory step for the customer before going to court. For information security the competent authority is the ACN, under Italian Legislative Decree 138/2024 (NIS2), which places energy among the highly critical sectors. The detail of the resolutions and of our operational work is set out in Services for the energy sector.

For a retail company this means that every process, from the first sales contact to the final invoice, has a rule to comply with and a figure to report.

Our hands-on support

We do not simply deliver opinions and documents: we work inside the processes. A single point of contact who knows both the regulation and the systems works with the sales department, back office, credit, customer care, IT and the legal function to turn resolutions into procedures, controls and everyday practice.

We always begin by looking at how the processes actually run and at the data: complaints received, compensation paid, activation times, arrears rates, disputes traceable to the agencies. Priorities are built from there. In high-volume processes we apply the techniques of business process engineering: flow mapping, identification of the points where errors arise, automated controls, indicators that management can read every month.

The sales network is the most exposed point. Besides training and checking agents and telesellers, we help management govern the indirect channels: agency agreements, incentive schemes that reward compliant selling, handling of customer disputes and of requests for information from the authorities.

The scope is defined together: a single topic (a resolution to be implemented, an investigation to be handled, a process that generates complaints), periodic oversight of obligations and indicators, or operational support during back-office peaks. In every case the decisions remain with the company’s own people: we bring regulatory insight, method and the ability to deliver, with responsibilities and timescales agreed at the outset.

Every engagement is proportionate to the company: procedures and controls are calibrated to volumes, systems and the people available, with the same standards of fair dealing towards customers and authorities that are expected of a large operator.

Why a single partner

• One point of contact for every authority: ARERA, AGCM, the Garante and the ACN ask for different things; we answer with a single system of procedures and evidence.
• From the rule to day-to-day operations: compliance is measured in processes, not in documents; that is why we work with the back office, the sales network and customer care, down to daily operations where needed.
• Measurable results: we agree indicators with the client on complaints, compensation payments, handling times and arrears, and track them over time through shared dashboards.
• Continuity: the rules change; we stay alongside the company to update procedures, train its people and manage relations with the authorities when required.