The star measure to lower the electricity bill has been a major fiasco. At least in June, with fifteen days of application, since the “cap” of gas prices for electricity generation at 40 euros per megawatt hour entered into force on the 15th of this month. And it is that, according to the calculations of Facua-Consumers in Action, the one in June will be the third highest electricity bill in history because a average user will pay about 133.85 euros, almost 65% more than a year ago, according to the calculations of the organization.
In a statement, Facua has highlighted that after the decreases of the two previous months the price of electricity has “shot up” again in June and, in addition, considers that both the mechanism of the “cap on gas” for the generation of electricity as well as the reduction of VAT on electricity to 5% will have a “low impact”. For this reason, it insists on demanding from the Government “more effective measures to protect families.”
According to Facua’s analysis, the bill of an average user in June it is only surpassed by those of March 2022, when it reached the historical maximum with 176.73 euros, and December of last year, when it stood at 140.62 euros.
In June, the average price per kilowatt hour (KWh) was 31.51 cents in off-peak hours, 31.95 in the flat and 37.11 in peak hours (including the 10.55% indirect taxes that are applied to invoices issued since last September 16). The arithmetic mean between the three sections this month was 33.52 cents, 74.7% more than the 19.19 a year ago. The weighted average, taking as reference the consumption of the average user in each section, was 33.25 cents, 82.9% higher than the 18.18 in June 2021.
The average user used in his analysis has a contracted power of 4.4 kilowatts (the same at peak and off-peak hours) and a monthly consumption of 366 KWh. Regarding the percentages of consumption in the three time slots of the billing system, the consumption reference values are 45% of electricity in off-peak hours, 29% in peak hours and 26% in flat hours. .
On the other hand, according to simulator of the National Markets Commission and the Competition (CNMC), with a contracted power of 4.4 kilowatts (KW) and a monthly consumption of 250 kilowatt hours (KWh), distributed in the different periods (peak, flat and valley), the bill would reach 92.63 euros for a typical consumer. This figure is 56% higher than that registered in the same month of 2021, when it was paid at 59.37 euros, almost double that in 2020, which stood at 47.42 euros, and 72.8% more than in 2019, the last year prior to the coronavirus pandemic, in which it reached 53.60 euros on average. However, it is still far from the maximum of this March, the most expensive month in history, which closed with an average bill of more than 120 euros per month, more than double compared to previous years.
The price of electricity in the wholesale market or “pool”, which has a direct impact on the regulated rate to which almost 11 million consumers are covered, has reached its third highest level since there are records, 215.5 euros megawatt hour (MWh). It is only behind the 239.17 euros/MWh of last December, and the 283.3 euros/MWh of this March, when it reached record levels after the invasion of Ukraine.
In total, the “pool” has exceeded the barrier of 200 euros/MWh in 18 of the 31 sessions in June, reaching its highest level in three months, 282.12 euros/MWh, on Wednesday 22, coinciding with the predominance of combined cycles, a higher cost technology that uses gas to produce electricity.
The invoice, 10% cheaper due to the “cap”
The average monthly price without the mechanism would have been 239.14 euros/MWh, that is, 23.6 euros more, which would have made the electricity bill even more expensive -10%- of consumers with rates indexed to the wholesale market. The reduction is accentuated by selecting, only, the 15 days that it has been running, since the MWh would have been paid on average at 274.46 euros, 15.6% more than the 231.61 euros to which, effectively , has been paid.
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