Monday, February 25, 2019

Italy: Mayor Protests Delay in Renewing Incentives for Geothermal Production

Tuscany Mayor Plans Hunger Strike on Geothermal Incentive Delay (Bloomberg)

Nicola Verruzzi, mayor of Montieri.
Italy’s government is dragging its feet on incentives for geothermal power and one local politician has decided to take his protest to the extreme.

Nicola Verruzzi, mayor of a small Tuscan town (Montieri) that runs entirely on geothermal power, says he’s going on a hunger strike to raise awareness about a new strategy that doesn’t include continued incentives for the energy source, which provides about 30 percent of Tuscany’s electricity.

Veruzzi, 35, says he’s yet to receive replies to the dozens of letters he wrote to Economic Development Minister Luigi Di Maio and to Davide Crippa, the undersecretary responsible for energy policy, in protest at the delay in renewing incentives for geothermal production.