Italian public utilities have demonstrated the ability in recent years to face increasingly competitive situations, promoting investments and technological innovation in services. This is even more true when the public shareholder has granted the management autonomy. Companies that have become industrial giants listed on the stock market have gradually structured their governance model, aligning themselves with market best practices. Much of the path remains to be travelled though, for small and medium-sized businesses. Yet a line of development that entails a more mature conception of the relationship between ownership and management is indispensible to complete the transformation of traditional municipal concerns into leading companies.