Fiona Govan
SPAIN is introducing new voltage tariffs from June 1 that will significantly affect households and could reduce your monthly bill.
You may have noticed that your electricity bill in recent months has been higher than usual. This is due a hike in the wholesale energy market which has seen prices soar from €17.65 per megawatt per hour in 2020 to €58.13 this year, according to data released in April.
Until now electricity to homes was set at a fixed price but under the new billing system introduced by the government, different prices will be established depending on the time of day.
This means savings can be made by using appliances outside peak hours.
From June 1, prices will be established by Spain’s National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) with three tiers – peak, average and low.
Peak periods run from 10am to 2pm and 6pm to 10pm Monday to Friday.
Average price times are between 8am and 10am, 2pm to 6pm and 10pm to midnight.
The lowest price bracket falls during the night, between midnight and 8am, over the entire weekend from midnight on Friday until 8am on Monday and on national holidays.
The CNMC anticipates that by restricting appliance use to outside peak hours, households will make an average saving of €130 a year on their electricity bill.
It also recommends that even bigger savings of between €200-€300 can be made by avoiding “simultaneous consumption” – that is running several appliances at the same time, such as a washing machine and oven.
They also warn that an iron is one of the highest consumption appliances, so moving your ironing to weekends or before 8 in the morning could save €36 a year.
Other tips include setting the temperature on the fridge to 5ºC and the freezer to -18C while reducing the thermostat on central heating or air conditioning to 20ºC in winter and 25ºC in summer.
You can also reduce your energy consumption by using the ECO setting on dishwashers and reducing the temperature when using the washing machine.
In order to make these saving it is necessary for those on an estimated energy tariff to switch their contract to only charge them for the energy they actually need.
READ ALSO:
- POWER PRICE HIKE: April electricity bill in Spain is most expensive ever
- Green energy sparks lowest electricity prices in Spain for 17 years
- Spain almost entirely eliminates burning of coal for electricity some 10 YEARS ahead of schedule thanks to EU regulations
