Record-breaking electricity bills draw criticism from Spanish government – the Durango Herald

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Spanish consumers are worried about record electricity prices, just as high summer temperatures keep air conditioning and cooling systems at full capacity

MADRID (AP) – Spanish consumers are worried about record electricity prices, just as high summer temperatures keep air conditioning and cooling systems at full capacity.

The government says the latest increases in electricity bills are due to soaring prices for so-called carbon certificates, which give companies the right to release carbon dioxide, gas imports that Spain needs to complete its energy mix and the growing demand for electricity in the summer month.

In the latest push to curb prices, lawmakers on Wednesday voted on whether to uphold last month’s government decision to cut value added tax on most households’ electricity bills from 21% to 10% until the end of this year and remove a 7% tax on electricity production for at least three months. Utilities pass the cost of this tax on to their customers.

But consumer associations said the savings from these two measures have already been offset by the surge in prices that Spain and Portugal, which share the power purchase market, have experienced from the start. of this year.

Wednesday’s megawatt per hour cost residents of the two countries an average of 106 euros ($ 124), according to OMIE, the operator of the electricity market in the Iberian Peninsula. In Spain, it was the most expensive price since there were records, surpassing the previous record of 103 euros / MWh on January 11, 2002.

Facua, one of Spain’s largest consumer rights platforms, said Spaniards will see on average a 35% increase in their electricity bill for July compared to the same month in 2020. The increase comes at a time when many households are grappling with the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

Facua general secretary Rubn Snchez said the government’s inaction is unacceptable.

He said the main issue was a rule in daily electricity auctions whereby the government pays for all the megawatts it buys from different energy sources at the highest price of all, which is usually $ 1. electricity produced with gas.

This fosters speculation and artificially inflated prices, he said, adding that electric utilities were still getting large profit margins.

Members of the left-wing ruling coalition in Spain have blamed the regulations of the European electricity market.

We did what was in our hands by lowering VAT, said Flix Boaos, the new minister in charge of the prime minister’s office. The rest are factors that must be dealt with at European level.

Environment Minister Teresa Ribera said she had written a letter to the EU executive stressing the need to reform the bloc’s electricity market, but warned that the upward trend in prices was likely to continue in the coming months.

Children cool off in a fountain in Madrid, Spain on Saturday, July 10, 2021. The Spaniards are trying to stay as cool as possible as forecasts have shown weekend temperatures could exceed 40 degrees Celsius, or 104 degrees Fahrenheit , in much of the Iberian Peninsula. The heat will scorch south-central Spain on Saturday before spreading eastward over the next two days. Only a segment of the northern Atlantic coast of Spain should be spared. (AP Photo / Paul White)

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