Spain has two good statistics on the price of electricity consumed by households: the National Institute for Statistics (INE) Household Budget Survey (EPF), which is published annually, and the Eurostat harmonized statistics published by Eurostat once every six months. And annual. INE also publishes the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which reflects not the price but its monthly variations. Unlike the EPF, which represents all households, the CPI does not include a liberalized market according to the INE January 31 press release.
The main features of the two cited sources are summarized in the February 8 article in elDiario.es.
The EPF is based on a sample of 24,000 household electricity bills and by 2020 it shows an average price of € 0.279 / kWh and an average annual consumption of € 2822 kWh. The average annual cost is 786 euros per year.
Eurostat statistics are based on price data provided by electricity companies to the Ministry of Environmental Transition (MITECO) and which it transmits to Eurostat.
The statistics cover more than 93% of the 28 million domestic contracts, cover all types of contracts, distinguish five zones or consumption divisions, and describe in detail three price levels: all-tax-free, VAT-only, and all-tax-free.
For comparison with the CPI or EPF, the final price, which includes all taxes, should be used and focused on two sets of contracts:
On April 5, Eurostat released data for Spain for the second half of 2021 (with some delays compared to most European countries, whose prices already appeared on the Eurostat website on April 2) and for the group’s domestic users at 2500-5000 kWh, the average price is estimated at 0.282 EUR / kWh , A 5% increase compared to the same half of 2020. Spain remains in fifth place with high prices, down from Denmark, Germany, Belgium and Ireland.
This increase is half of the electricity CPI, the average value of which in the second half of 2021 is 48.2% higher than in the same half of 2020. The attached chart compares the volatility in CPI and Eurostat prices over the last 8 years. Semesters.
For contracts consuming less than 5000 kWh, the increase is only 13.2%, with an increase in electricity CPI of 30%.
The average of the semester data for each year is taken from the price series shown in the table.
According to Eurostat, the price for typical domestic consumer taxes, with an annual consumption of 2500 to 5000 kWh, will increase by 13.3% in 2021. Compared to a 35.6% increase in the electricity index, it is 2.6 times less.
For consumption less than 5000 kWh, the increase is reduced to 6.9% and reaches 0.295 EUR / kWh. This is the price I expect at the INE 2021 EPF display when we know its results in June.
If the CPI of electricity had increased by 13.3% in 2021, as shown by Eurostat statistics, instead of 35.6%, in 2021 the overall index would have increased by 2.3% instead of the 3.1% actually registered. Thus, it can be said that the exclusion of the liberalized market in the CPI of electricity increased inflation in Spain by 8 tenths, or 34%.
Another interesting aspect is the extent to which the measures to reduce electricity prices have met the objectives of the government. Presenting the measures given in RDL 17/2021 on September 14, the government press release states that the purpose of the shock plan was to “keep the final electricity bill for consumers in 2021 at the same level as in 2018.”
The table above contains the data necessary to determine the degree of compliance. For households with an annual consumption of less than 1000 kWh, the target has been achieved, but for the typical Eurostat user, with an annual consumption of 2500 to 5000 kWh, the increase over a three-year period is 5.7%, which is higher than the rate. CPI growth without energy (2.9%) over the same period.
For consumers with an annual consumption of less than 5,000 kWh, growth from 2018 to 2021 is estimated at 3.3%, with just over 4 per cent more CPI excluding energy.
Eurostat statistics do not reflect prices by contract type (social bonds, regulated markets and free markets), so we should ask INE to include a specific module in the 2021 EPF, which it will publish in June to show the price distribution. According to the type of contract and segments of consumption. In addition, given the sample of two-year stays of households, HBS can also provide good measurements of annual price volatility.
Finally, it should be noted that Eurostat statistics are of particular interest to study the impact of measures taken in 2021 to reduce electricity bills. Both the one that comes into force on June 1 with Royal Decree 148/2021, which deals with taxes imposed by the CNMC and the taxes imposed by MITECO, as well as the tax measures taken in June RDL 12/21 and September. RDL 17/21.
The difference between the final price and the pre-tax price is close to the tax burden imposed by the user, and Eurostat statistics allow the study of the annual variability of this burden with the consumption brackets. In particular, in the range of 2500 to 5000 kWh in 2021 the price will increase by 32.6% before tax and the tax burden will decrease by 9.3%.
Source: El Diario
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