The Italian Antitrust Authority (AGCM) has taken decisive action against a major player, fining Enel’s EV charging businesses (Enel X/Enel X Way) over two million euros for abusing their dominant market position.
The core of the issue, first raised by Route220 (evway), is a practice known as a “margin squeeze.”
The AGCM found that Enel X was charging a wholesale price to competing E-Mobility Service Providers (EMSPs) that was so high it made it impossible for them to compete profitably with Enel’s own retail prices offered to end-users on its app.
The Authority explicitly found this to be “abuse of dominant position” that could harm market development and effective competition.
This was based on market shares of around 50% for low-power infrastructure and over 40% for high-power infrastructure at a national level, along with other factors like significant investment and its position as a historical incumbent in the electricity sector.
This ruling serves as a powerful precedent for the entire European market.
It effectively punishes the exact kind of discriminatory pricing behavior that the new Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR) is designed to prevent.
It’s a clear signal that regulators are not waiting for the market to mature before enforcing fair competition and transparency.
Now here’s where this gets interesting with this precedent.
Given that similar concerns have been raised in other markets like Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark, it is highly likely that this is the beginning of a broader trend.
The message to CPOs and EMSPs is now even more clear: it is time to re-evaluate and proactively rethink your EMSP pricing strategies to ensure they are transparent, non-discriminatory, and fully compliant with a rapidly evolving regulatory landscape.
Source: AMPECO newsletter
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