The EU environmental-energy policy for urban areas: The Covenant of Mayors, the ELENA program and the role of ESCos

The Covenant of Mayors (CoM) is an initiative of the European Commission started in 2008 with the aim of involving cities more in the implementation of the 20-20-20 climate-energy package. To this end, a variety of tools to assist the realization of such a policy has been built. The European Local Energy Assistance (ELENA) program of the European Investment Bank (EIB) is one of the most relevant. In this work, we observe some data on the Italian participation in the CoM and ELENA program, while highlighting the role the Energy Service Companies have in these contexts. By referring to the specific experience of the Province of Foggia (an intermediary government body in southern Italy), we also discuss how some recent changes in the Italian legislation, aimed at abolishing the provinces (considered as preferred supporting structure of the CoM), imposed the identification of another supraterritorial entity. This is to substitute the Province of Foggia as coordinator in the dialog between the local territory and the European Union institutions on the climate-energy theme. In this sense, the choice of the Chamber of Commerce represents a novelty. With regard to this, some considerations on the appropriateness of this choice are developed. - Highlights: •The CoM is an EU environmental-energy initiative for local authorities. •The ELENA program supports technical energy efficiency activities within the CoM. •Chambers of Commerce can usefully coordinate ELENA projects submission. •Public bodies are committed to implement energy saving projects on their buildings. •The ESCOs develop and implement energy efficiency projects.