Ribera announces that the electricity bill has been reduced by 4,500 million euros in 2022 due to lower consumption and measures taken by the government since last June
Since last October, energy companies have received a flood of requests to change the rate to the regulated modality (the so-called TUR, rate of last resort) whose price is capped by the government. So much so that in Spain there are already two million customers covered by the TUR, with an increase of 100,000 people only in December after the major rebound of 230,000 in November, according to data confirmed by the third vice president and Minister of Energy Transition, Teresa Ribera forthcoming Monday at a press conference to report the results of the first three months of application of the +SE energy savings plan.
In addition, there are already 2,000 neighborhood communities that have also used this regulated tariff because of the threat of an increase in the price of natural gas. These 2,000 communities have changed their model in the past three months after the government approved a consumer protection mechanism with community kettles in October. At the time, the Ministry of Ecological Transition indicated that this measure could benefit more than 1.6 million households.
Ribera acknowledged that care for the thousands of customers changing their rates has “improved a lot” in recent weeks, but pointed out that the number of families wanting to take advantage of the TUR will continue to grow and needs to respond. them. The Executive decided to limit the increase in the natural gas rate in the TUR to 5% per month, which means that this rate is currently the lowest in the market and customer transfer has been massive since October.
Likewise, the minister indicated that the energy-saving measures until January 8 have resulted in savings of 4,577 million euros for Spanish households. In the case of vulnerable households (657,000 families in Spain benefit from the social bonus), their annual electricity bill has been reduced by 17% compared to that of 2021, while in the very vulnerable households (700,000 households) the decrease was 28%, according to from Ministry data.
And it is that the average annual price in 2022 on the daily market in Spain was lower than those recorded in France, Germany and Italy. Specifically, the average price of light on the wholesale market was EUR 208 per megawatt hour (MWh), of which EUR 77.4 was due to the adjustment introduced with the ‘Iberian exception’. For example, the largest difference between electricity prices was observed in comparison with Italy, with a difference in favor of the Spanish market of 41%. In turn, the price in Spain was cheaper than in France (-35%) and Germany (-26%) for the first time.
Ribera emphasized that a large part of this price reduction is due to the various initiatives taken by the Executive during the year and looked at the measures that will be extended in 2023, such as the reduction to 5% of VAT on electricity, natural gas and Tax Electricity Special. He also pointed to the extension until June 30 of the 80% toll reduction for the electro-intensive industry and the cap on the maximum price of the butane gas bottle.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
