Electricity Rises

As I'm sure everyone knows Electricity is rising in cost by 9.8% from Jan 1st and is also due to increase in April and Sept 2011 as well. With that in mind I have been researching other options and have come up with some interesting ways for keeping costs lower.

a. Depending on your potencia you can change your Tariff from the normal 2.0A to a off peak rate supply, which gives 14hrs of cheaper electric usually between 2000hrs and 1000hrs. You have to get a second white meter fitted which off course you pay for but the saving over the years should outweigh this cost especially if you use your appliances such as washing machine during the off peak times.

b. Because Spain has been forced to adopt a free market system you can now easily change supplier, thus availing of introductory offers, and off course do as they do in the UK keep switching when such offers expire.


BUT BY FAR the most interesting thing I have learned is the CHARGES you receive if you exceed your contracted potencia, and off course these charges are never simple to decipher on your bill but broadly are.

For Potencias

3.03 to 5.75 Inclusive 1.0187 per KW Hour
5.75 to 10 Inclusive 0.089 per KW Hour

not entirely sure what all that means as Endessa don't make it easy to find things out but the whole subject is getting huge coverage in both EXPAT forums and publications as well as National press.

I'd be interested to know how other people are going to deal with the price hike or indeed if there are other options available

Cheers

WHOO! we didn't know about the impending increases!! 9.8% OUCH but a further two hikes!! In 2011, MAJOR, MAJOR OUCH

YEP, we will be looking for alternatives and ways of reducing costs. So we will be watching this space for tips and ideas.

December 28th, 2010

The Spanish government said yesterday that household electricity prices will increase by 9.8%, effective Jan 1st, in a move that could stoke already-strong inflationary pressures as it reverberates through households and the larger economy.

Spain’s industry ministry said the hike will affect around 17 million Spanish households that rely on the so-called “last resort price,” the only one still set by the government after the sector was liberalized in recent years. This price is available only to households using less than 10 kilowatt hours that decline to negotiate directly with power companies.

The ministry said the increase is justified by higher prices for fossil fuels, since natural gas is the main source of electricity for homes in Spain.

It added the increase in electricity prices is in line with hikes seen in recent months in other European countries.

Observers say the government is also looking to contain the country’s tariff deficit, the difference between the prices charged by utilities and those paid by consumers.

The tariff deficit, booked as revenue by the utilities, has effectively served as a government subsidy on power prices by enabling utilities to provide power to consumers at a price lower than the cost of production.

The deficit has been rising over a decade as successive governments failed to increase power prices quickly enough to keep pace with rising oil and gas prices, and now stands at over €15 billion. It has also been pushed wider by a surge in expensive renewable energy production, in particular wind and solar power, that has gone from almost zero to over 16% of Spain’s power generation in 10 years.

Even after recent cuts in government renewable energy subsidies, part of a wide austerity drive, wind power generation remains twice as costly as average electricity generation, and solar power is close to nine times more expensive. The subsidy cuts are part of a Spanish drive to lower its budget deficit to 9.3% of gross domestic product this year. online.wsj.com


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