New electricity bill system unveiled as law on consumer options is finally published

[Janet]

As I posted last year, there was a 2.3% rise in electricity prices confirmed for the first quarter of 2014, but after Spring, prices would be assessed in accordance with guidelines set by the Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (National Commission on Markets and Competition) which is already working with the Department of Industry. The new law has  now been passed and was published in the BOE yesterday: the law is HERE but scroll forward to page 14 onwards for examples of the new bill formats.

Most relevant in terms of prices is the fact that consumers now seem to have a choice of two options for billing: those who want to be sure of the price they'll be charged before receiving a bill can opt for a fixed tariff, but this is likely to be up to 15% more expensive than those who take a chance on the market pricing option, the problem with which is that it itself might turn out to be more expensive rather than cheaper. The new system is based on the average wholesale price during the customer's billing cycle (either monthly or bimonthly). The seven million or so consumers in Spain with "smart meters" will pay market prices worked out on an hourly basis.

Industria says that the new method eliminates the price-raising effect of the old auctions, and that energy costs should be reduced by around 10%. The problem is that in any bill, actual energy costs only represent around a third of the amount. There should be still be some small overall reduction, however. Let's hope so! JA