Add to ORKGLocal utilities represent one of the least studied subject among the disciplines focused on the transformations of network industries and, more generally, on the delivery of local public services (LPS). This deficit of attention is not due to a lack of relevance, as publicly owned corporations and institutional public-private partnership represent an important phenomenon in many European countries such as Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland and the Scandinavian countries, just to name a few. More likely, scholars overlooked public utilities because they constitute a difficult topic to deal with. There is no homogeneous legal framework at the European level and each Member State has its own tradition in regulating the utilities. Moreover, e...