Together with Europa Verde, I have long denounced the opacity and loss of connection with the territory of IREN and I think that it no longer makes sense for the Emilian Municipalities to remain within a company listed on the stock exchange that they do not control, which does not respond to users and whose decision-making centers have moved to Genoa and Turin.
The arrest of CEO Signorini on corruption charges only strengthens our conviction. Although the contested crimes, still being examined by the judiciary, concern activities prior to the position in IREN, the behaviors and lifestyle that emerge appear to us to be incompatible with those who should manage local public services and highlight the lack of verification capacity and control by the Municipalities.
We have seen with the Parma and Piacenza district heating affair how the Municipalities are no longer able to intervene in company policies and protect the interests of citizens. Despite repeated requests from users and an investigation opened by the Antitrust Authority for abuse of a dominant position, IREN continued to apply the price of gas to the heat produced by waste-to-energy plants, effectively making users pay twice, first with the Tari and then with bills.
As underlined by the Antitrust this has “led to the application of excessive prices, generating extra profits for the company” in violation of the rules for the protection of competition and the market. But the motions and questions we asked in the Parma City Council were of no avail.
To this we must add the total lack of transparency of the multi-utility. Under the pretext of protecting sensitive data for a company listed on the stock exchange, IREN does not provide information even to the councilors of the member municipalities who should instead have full access. In fact, IREN behaves like a multinational in the sector free from any public and territorial constraints.
The only real return for the Municipality to be a shareholder are dividends and sponsorships, in a sick relationship where those who should be controlled drug the controller with money taken from citizens’ pockets through the services entrusted to them. And this is where the crux of the issue lies, which applies to IREN as well as to HERA and all the other publicly held multi-utilities listed on the stock exchange.
These companies that should manage local public services on behalf of the Municipalities present an inherent and irremediable conflict of interest. The interest of public partners in providing their services at the right cost for families clashes with that of private partners and stock market shareholders who claim to maximize profits and share prices.
The only way to untie this knot is to cut it. It is not the job of a Municipality to be a shareholder of a company listed on the stock exchange that trades in energy, manages turnover of billions of euros and has operational offices scattered across Italy.
If the Municipalities have no way of controlling the top management and influencing company policies, they should take note of this and exit the shareholding system to regain control of the management and control of their public services, starting with the integrated water service. This is why I support and will convincingly support any political initiative aimed at starting the process of re-publicizing water.
Nicola Dall’Olio – Candidate for the European elections for the Alleanza Verdi e Sinistra list
