Regulations concerning the business segment

Relations with the regulatory authority

Tariff regulations for 2015

By means of Resolution 584/2014/R/gas published on 28 November 2014, the Authority approved revenue recognised for the transportation, dispatching and metering services for 2015. Revenue recognised for natural gas transportation, dispatching and metering services for 2015 totalled €1,985 million compared with a RAB of €14.9 billion at 31 December 2013 for transportation, dispatching and metering activities.

Tariff regulations for 2016

By means of Resolution 587/2015/R/gas published on 4 December 2015, the Authority approved revenue recognised for natural gas transportation, dispatching and metering services for 2016. Revenue recognised for natural gas transportation, dispatching and metering services for 2016 total €1,850 million. The RAB as at 31 December 2014 for transportation, dispatching and metering activities amounted to €15 billion.

Other provisions

Council of State – Ruling 3735/2015 concerning natural gas transportation and dispatching tariffs for the 2014-2017 period

By means of ruling 3735/2015, filed on 28 July 2015, the Council of State (hereinafter the “CoS”) upheld the judgement of the Lombardy Regional Administrative Court regarding the partial quashing of the Authority’s Resolution 514/2013/R/gas, concerning the determination of “Regulation criteria for natural gas transportation and dispatching tariffs for the 2014-2017 period” and of the subsequent Resolutions 603/2013/R/gas and 641/2013/R/com, due to the lack of any provision in the relevant rules for a decreasing-scale mechanism for the benefit of end users with high levels of gas consumption.

By means of Resolution 429/2015/R/gas published on 3 September 2015, the Authority launched a procedure, which should have been completed by 31 December 2015, to comply with the aforementioned ruling. This procedure is still pending, and thus the Group is still waiting for the final ruling.

Council of State – Ruling 2888/2015 concerning natural gas transportation and dispatching tariffs for the 2010-2013 period

By means of ruling 2888/2015, filed on 12 June 2015, the CoS rejected the appeal filed by the Authority for review of the judgement of the Lombardy-Milan Regional Administrative Court, which had annulled the provisions contained in Resolutions ARG/gas/184/09, 192/09, 198/09 and 218/10 regarding natural gas transportation and dispatching tariffs for the 2010-2013 period.

With regard to the determination of tariffs, the CoS acknowledged that the Authority had apparently not provided “sufficient logistical/regulatory support” with respect to the breakdown of the capacity and commodity components in the amount of 90% and 10%.

The CoS also declared that the mechanism was unlawful for determining the contribution for gas intended for Snam’s compression stations according to the criterion based on in-house consumption (entailing a direct withdrawal in kind of fuel metered on the basis of the utilisation of transportation companies for the purposes of the operation of compression stations).

By means of Resolution 428/2015/C/gas, the Authority decided to file an appeal for the aforementioned ruling to be overturned on the grounds of factual error. The appeal was notified to Snam Rete Gas on 7 October 2015. At the same time, by means of Resolution 430/2015/R/gas, the Authority launched a procedure for compliance with CoS ruling 2888/2015, which should have been completed by 31 December 2015. As a part of this procedure, by means of the subsequent Resolution 607/2015/R/gas, consultations were announced to determine the final action, which is still pending.

Balancing activities – Resolution 608/2015/R/gas

By means of Resolution 608/2015/R/gas published on 17 December 2015, the Authority closed the procedure launched by means of Resolution 145/2013/R/gas regarding the portion of charges to be paid to the balancing supervisor (Snam Rete Gas) with respect to uncollected receivables relating to income statement items from balancing operations that arose from 1 December 2011 to 23 October 2012. By means of this resolution, the Authority ruled that it would not recognise the portion of uncollected receivables in relation to the specific situations covered by the preliminary investigation in an amount totalling around €130 million including VAT, but, in any case, respecting the right of Snam Rete Gas to retain any receivables already recovered related to income statement items from balancing operations as a result of legal action taken against shippers in default to the extent corresponding to amounts not paid. In addition, the Authority acknowledged the right of Snam Rete Gas to the remainder of uncollected receivables for the period from 1 December 2011 to 23 October 2012. Since the company believes that the prerequisites were met for recognising the portion of charges that resulted from the uncollected receivables and that were the subject of the procedure in question, it contested the resolution before the competent judicial authority¹¹.