Legislative Decree 3/2026 on the new electricity market framework introduces an autonomous professional figure to manage renewable energy sharing, distinct from the seller. A concrete opportunity for CER, condominiums, and SMEs – but full operation still awaits ARERA's implementing regulation.
For the first time, the Italian legislator recognizes, with a specific name and discipline, those who manage “on behalf of others” the energy shared within an energy community or a self-consumption configuration. This is done by Legislative Decree 7 January 2026, no. 3, effective from 24 January 2026, which transposes Directive (EU) 2024/1711 on improving the electricity market framework (the so-called market design) and, through the amendment of Legislative Decree 210/2021, introduces the figure of the “renewable energy sharing organizer.”
This is not a technical detail. It is the missing piece to transform energy sharing from a complex compliance, managed with difficulty by members, into a reliable professional service entrusted to a qualified third party. Let’s see what the law really provides, what is already possible, and what still awaits regulatory steps.
The novelty: a new figure within the market design
Directive (EU) 2024/1711 elevated “energy sharing” to a right of active customers and, in the new art. 15-bis of Directive 2019/944, provided that customers can appoint a third party as sharing organizer. Legislative Decree 3/2026 transposed this scheme by amending Legislative Decree 210/2021 (art. 14, paragraphs 8-bis and following): sharing can take place based on private agreements between active customers or be entrusted, precisely, to an organizer.
The crucial point, often misunderstood: the organizer does not necessarily coincide with the CER “referent” towards GSE, which remains a distinct and formal role. The organizer can be the same subject, but can also be a legal entity external to the community. This is the real operational novelty: the management of sharing becomes a service that can be outsourced.
Who is (and what can do) the organizer
In line with the directive, the sharing organizer is the third party appointed by participants to take care, in summary, of:
The European regulation adds a relevant practical element: the organizer (or another third party) can own or manage renewable or storage plants up to 6 MW without thereby being qualified as an “active customer,” except if participating in the energy sharing project. This opens a clear space for developers, ESCo, and operators who want to maintain a managerial role even after transferring the plant to the community.
The expanded “active customer” and thresholds
The decree broadens the definition of active customer explicitly including energy sharing, alongside self-consumption and sale of self-produced energy, and allows multiple supply and sharing contracts. The size limits designed to preserve the non-professional nature of the activity remain: for individual homes, the reference capacity is up to 30 kW, while for condominiums it reaches up to 100 kW. Those sharing within these limits do not assume the typical obligations of suppliers.
The practical point: managing sharing is not selling energy
Here lies the value of the reform for operators in the sector. Managing sharing means governing the virtual sharing of energy already produced by the configuration’s plants and distributing economic benefits (premium tariff of the CACER Decree and ARERA’s TIAD valuation fee). It does not mean selling energy to members.
It follows that, according to the prevailing interpretation, for the sole function of organizing sharing, registration in the Electricity Sellers Register (the “EVE” register, governed by Ministerial Decree 164/2022) is not required: however, the sale activity – and therefore subject to EVE – remains the supply of “supplementary” energy, i.e., that which covers consumption during hours when renewable production is insufficient. This is a clear distinction, which on the tax level is confirmed by the Revenue Agency’s practice: amounts that the CER distributes to members are not sales proceeds but benefit reimbursements, excluded from VAT and not qualifying as profit distribution (Resolution 37/E of 22 July 2024 and reply no. 201/2024).
The state of play in June 2026: ARERA regulation still missing
It must be said clearly, to avoid premature expectations. Paragraph 8-septies of the new art. 14 of Legislative Decree 210/2021 entrusts ARERA with one or more implementing resolutions to define in detail the organizer’s requirements, the management of measurement data, and relations with the Integrated Information System (SII). As of the date of this contribution (June 2026), such regulation has not yet been adopted: the Authority has started adjustment procedures (including the Commercial Code of Conduct and pre-contractual and contractual regulation), and full operation of sharing – with SII adjustment – is expected by the end of 2026.
In other words: the legal framework exists and is already effective, but the operational “engine” – requirements, standard contract schemes, data flows – will be defined by ARERA. Those moving now must do so with contracts built on the general mandate discipline (arts. 1703-1730 Italian Civil Code) and with clauses capable of automatically adapting to the forthcoming regulation.
Opportunities and impacts for businesses
For energy sellers already operating with communities, Legislative Decree 3/2026 opens the concrete possibility to position themselves as integrated operators – supplier of supplementary energy, sharing organizer, and technical manager of distribution – within a single relationship with members, without giving up EVE qualification nor requiring new authorizations. For ESCo, consulting firms, and management companies, a market for professional services (GSE reporting, SII management, meter monitoring, incentive distribution) arises, previously carried out in a fragmented way.
For plant developers, the figure allows remaining in the value chain even after transferring the plant to the community, managing its energy (within the 6 MW threshold without becoming an active customer). For participating SMEs, sharing remains a cost reduction opportunity, provided it is not the main activity and respects excluded ATECO codes.
Opportunities and impacts for citizens
For families, condominiums, and small consumers, the benefit is mainly simplification: entrusting a qualified organizer with relations with GSE, distributor, and SII means removing the most difficult part of management from members, while maintaining intact the rights of the end customer – primarily the right to freely choose and change the seller. The reform also strengthens contractual protections (right to fixed-price and fixed-term contracts, alongside dynamic price contracts) and attention to vulnerable families.
Still open issues
Two points deserve attention in contracts. The first is the conflict of interest when the seller is also organizer of the same community: the interest in selling more supplementary energy may conflict with that of maximizing internal sharing. The CER regulation and the organization contract must expressly govern this (transparency, performance indicators, separation of accounts). The second is the organizer’s liability regime for errors in reporting or distribution: pending ARERA’s resolution, professional liability for own fault of the mandate applies, which must be circumscribed in the contract (due diligence obligations, indemnities, insurance coverage).
What Enerleg can do
Enerleg supports businesses, energy communities, condominiums, and public entities in translating this reform into concrete operational solutions, particularly to:
The goal is one: seize the opportunities of sharing while staying within what the regulation already allows, without forcing.
