Milano Finanza - 16/03/2010 -ROME—A change in Italy’s public incentives for renewable-energy investment has brought financing for the sector to a halt, hitting aspiring players in the green economy. A decree packed into Italy’s austerity budget relieves the state-run energy management agency, known as GSE, from its role as the buyer of last resort for so-called green certificates issued to support development of cleaner energy production. The measure responds to the Italian energy regulator’s ruling that the certificates—which some say invited abuse by speculators with no industry credentials—risked pushing up prices for consumers, whose utility bills reflect the higher costs of producing clean energy. Even though the decree introducing the change stili has to be approved by parliament, prices have collapsed in the € 7.5 billion ($9.2 billion) green-certificates market.

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