Light breaks new highs since the Iberian exception and overwhelms families
The Minister of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera. /
The price jumps 20% to 436.25 euros/MWh when adding the wholesale market auction and compensation to combined cycle plants for the application of the gas cap
They consume less, but pay more. Spanish families continue to be overwhelmed by the energy bill that seems not to have reached the ceiling despite the impact that the so-called 'Iberian exception' has had so that the cost of electricity increases is more moderate in Spain than in other neighboring countries.
But not for those. Prices continue to run wild and regulated rate customers will see on Wednesday how electricity reaches a new maximum since the entry into force in mid-June of that cap on gas, the second in a row this week, to stand at 436.25 euros per megawatt hour (MWh), its fourth highest price since there are records and almost 20% higher than that registered on Tuesday. It is also dangerously close to the record of 545 euros/MWh registered on March 9.
The figure results from adding the average price in the daily auction of the wholesale market and the compensation that the beneficiaries of the 'Iberian exception' must pay -those covered by the regulated rate (PVPC) or those who are in the free market, but with an indexed rate- to the combined cycle plants for applying the measure.
Specifically, and according to data from the Omie market operator, of the 436.25 euros to be paid on average, 186.95 euros correspond to the average price set in the wholesale market for this Wednesday, which will reach a peak between ten and eleven at night of 236.79 euros/MWh, compared to the minimum of 140.07 euros that will occur between five and six in the afternoon. Another 249.30 euros correspond to the compensation to the gas companies. That is, 57.14% of the total bill.
It is true that without the application of the Iberian exception to cap gas, the price of electricity would be even more expensive. Specifically, about 502 euros/MWh. In other words, the beneficiaries of the measure will save 65.75 euros despite having to pay compensation to the gas companies.
However, this saving only implies that the bill has slowed down in its rate of increase, not that it has fallen compared to previous months. In fact, last July was the third most expensive bill in history, according to OCU data, reaching 115.27 euros on average. Are
43 euros more than just a year agowhen the average receipt of consumers barely exceeded 72 euros.
Everything indicates that August will break all records. But with gas prices completely skyrocketing on international markets in the face of the threat of a new cut in Russian gas supply, other European countries will suffer even more from this energy collapse. According to data provided by the Ministry of Ecological Transition, most European countries will generally exceed 600 euros/MWh on Wednesday.
France will exceed 645 euros/MWh, while Italy will reach 637 euros/MWh. For its part, the average price in Germany will be around 624.3 euros/MWh. All above Spain and Portugal, where the gas cap is also applied.
The third vice-president of the Government and minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, estimated last week that the 'Iberian exception' has meant a saving of 1,383 million euros for Spanish consumers in its two months of validity.
Ribera indicated that this figure represents a saving of 22 million euros per day for Spanish society since the entry into force of the mechanism.
