Author(s)

F. Cucchiella, M. Gastaldi & D. Frigioni

Abstract

In the water sector the tariff represents the regulatory service instrument through which the process of convergence between the conditions offered by providers and the conditions desired by collectivity is activated. At the same time the tariff must cover the cost of production and management of the service that overcomes the logic, sustained for far too long in Italy, to furnish an essential resource free of charge. The purpose of this work is to present the economic technical plan of an Optimal Territorial Basin (OTB) for an Italian city (L’Aquila) and the determination of the tariff adopted by the Integrated Water Service (IWS) in the next thirty years. Moreover this plan is able to activate forms of verification and incentive of the technical and economic efficiency that are the basis of water industrial management. Keywords: price cap regulation, water management, network. 1 Introduction The water sector provides an essential service of public utility; therefore it is necessary to guarantee the continuity of the service supply and an elevated qualitative standard to an accessible tariff. It’s essential, therefore, that the management of the water resource is efficient and that a suitable system of regulation is used. Law 36/94 \“dispositions in subject of water resources” (Law Galli) introduced a new way regarding the management of water services to overcome its fragmentation which is argued as the principal cause of the diseconomies and the dysfunctions of the sector (Barbese and Meucci [1], Caselli and Peruzzi [2]); for water services, it is meant here all those services

Keywords

price cap regulation, water management, network.