Italy's regulated household prices for electricity are set to fall sharply in the second quarter of the year, the head of the country's energy authority ARERA said on Wednesday.

About one third of Italian households were covered by regulated electricity prices last year, but the regime is set to be mostly phased out starting from July.

The controlled prices will stay for about 4.5 million vulnerable customers, such as the elderly and the disabled, while others will switch to a free-market regime.

ARERA President Stefano Besseghini said a fall in gas prices during the winter would be reflected in lower power bills in coming months.

"We will see the impact on electricity in March, and realistically it will be significant," Besseghini said on the sidelines of a utilities conference in Milan.

ARERA is set to announce quarterly regulated electricity prices for April-June at the end of this month. (Reporting by Giancarlo Navach, writing by Alvise Armellini, editing by Gavin Jones)