Electricity fixed fees soar by 18 per cent
Tuesday, February 4, 2014 @ 11:07 AM
ELECTRICITY prices due to go up in January have risen by far more than expected, with the part of a household's bill relating to government charges and taxes rocketing by 18 per cent.
Although minister for industry José Manuel Soria had already warned that the tariff based upon consumption would increase by 2.3 per cent on January 1 this year, the fact that the fixed fee element was about to soar has not been widely announced.
National media agencies spotted it in the State Official Bulletin (BOE), where any government decisions have to be published and, once they have been, any move of this nature is deemed to have been communicated to society as a whole.
The element of electricity bills which goes into the government's pocket in taxes and charges totals 55 per cent of the consumer's invoice, and will now rise to 42.04 euros per kilowatt (kW).
This part of the bill has not been amended since August 2013, when the State approved a 'general' rise of 1.2 per cent following new measures being introduced to its energy reform.
For most consumers, 45 per cent of the bill relates to consumption, which is dictated by the prices achieved in the three-monthly State 'auctions' of the energy supply franchise, and the remaining 55 per cent – the government's taxes and charges – covers transport, distribution, 'green' taxes, and other fees.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com