Electricity prices

We let some friends use out apartment for a week telling them to pay the cleaning charge and our costs. electric for 7 days, wow!!! They reckon the air con wasn't used, so I may visit in the winter!!

The perils of not having a contracted rate and being at the mercy of the market forces.

Since the cuts in IVA, our electricity bills have actually gone down. Total bill for July was 64.68 and that included loads of times we've been using the aircon due to the heatwave. Bill for June was under 50 euro.

The ministry of the interior did say anyone not on a contracted rate was crazy.

Didn't know you could get one, is that the same as a fixed rate in the UK? I suppose that ship sailed long ago though and prices have risen the same as here. Only being used 3 or 4 weeks a year at the moment, I don't suppose it matters that much, but definitely worth looking into.

There are two systems in Spain, the regulated and the unregulated. If you take out a contract with Iberdrola (or other company) you can opt for several plans. There is the day/night plan where electricity is cheaper from midnight to 1pm (11pm to noon in the Winter) or the choose your own hours where you can have any eight hours (not in succession but in 1 hour slots if you want, we have 8 to 11 am and 5 to 10pm as our cheap hours). The advantage then is that the rates are fixed for as long as your contract is in existence. Of course, if electricity goes down you will not get the benefits but at only just over 8 cents a kwh in off peak and just 19 cents for non peak periods that won't happen for a long time).

With the unregulated you are at the mercy of the ups and downs in prices which have been horrendous in the last year. You would benefit if prices went down but, again, that's not happening, especially at the rates we are currntly paying. Iberdrola (or whoever your supplier is) would put you on the regualated rates but would have to tell you what they are so you could make your mind up if you want to go down that route. They are currenlty charging 14 cents on the day night plan for cheaper hours and 23 cents for peak periods so you could compare that to what you are paying now. These figures will change, of course.

With these plans, even the contracted charge for the power provided changes during non peak periods from 9 cents per Kw contracted down to a third of a cent in contracted hours so that saves a lot.

If you leave your aircon or heating on all night and use things like dishwashers and washing machines in the morning then the day/night tariff is ideal. 

We went to the 8 hours a day plan. We were paying around 100 euro a month but that has dropped to under 50. July and August more expensive because the aircon is on a lot. Even so, last month bill was 64.64 for permanent usage and they keep sending a message that the bills will not rise despite the increased costs .

The 

We were with Endesa but appear to have been moved to a subsidiary Energia XXI. Their website doesn't show much in the way of tarifs. Will have to dig a bit deeper.

Markfish one small 3kw split AC unit that you will find in the majority  of apartments will cost approximately €1 per hour to run ...you can work the rest out for yourself. 

Our neighbours recommended us a handy little Android app (which I have no connection with) called Precio Luz Espana. It lists the hourly electricity rate for today, at about 8pm you get the next day's rates and you can also see the previous days. Quite scary really when you look at the prices and funnily enough, the cheaper times aren't when you would think they are, although I suppose it encompasses siesta!

Wow @marksfish thats crazy pricing. We had our apartment in use all of july and even visited for a week ourselves (and used a lot of aircon / fans etc. all week) and our usage was only 258kwh for the whole month, which cost about 60 eur. I'd get on a decent fixed rate if you can!

This is a night plan with IBERDROLA

ENERGY kWh has increased by 3.5 times from 1 year ago.

Capacity invoiced Peak 6 kW x 30 days x 0,088983 €/kW day 16,02 €

Off-peak 6 kW x 30 days x 0,014502 €/kW day 2,61 €

Total power amounts to 23/08/2022 18,63 €

Energy invoiced Non-promotional periods 798,5 kWh x 0,323951 €/kWh 258,67 €

Promotional periods 886,5 kWh x 0,272313 €/kWh 241,41 €

Total energy amounts to 23/08/2022 500,08 €

Consumption discount 15% 15% s/500,08 € -75,01 €

REGULATORY CHARGES Fixed funding for subsidised rate 30 days x 0,036718 €/day 1,10 €

Electricity tax 0,5% s/444,8 € 2,22 €

TOTAL ENERGY 447,02 €

SERVICES AND OTHER ITEMS Meter equipment rental 30 days x 0,044712 €/day 1,34 €

TOTAL SERVICES AND OTHER ITEMS 1,34 €

TOTAL AMOUNT 448,36 €

IVA Reducido (*) 5% s/448,36 € 22,42 €

TOTAL 470,78 €

Hello arago

Thanks for that.

Nothing seems to add up to 149,87€ but that could be me!

Then there’s all  the ‘’we don’t want you to understand bits’’  power transmission and distribution charges, power charges, Fixed retail margin, Capacity invoiced, Consumption discount, REGULATORY CHARGES.

Then all the kWh rates seem completely different. However as you say you seem to be on a worse deal than me.

Anyway please let us all know how you go on at Iberdrola's office when you speak to Dusty Bin.

Good luck.

'Nothing seems to add up to 149,87€'

Quite right, 149,87€ isn't related to any of the previous charges.  For example this bill for 432 kwh had an energy charge of 149,87€ whereas the previous month it was 137,92€ on use of 449 kwh.  It's supposed to be based on the daily cost of electricity on the market but there are no details as to exactly how it's calculated.  

You can also see that without the energy charge the total cost of my 432 kwh before taxes of 0.5% and 5% was only 24.90€ and I'm certainly liable for more than that.  The problem with the energy charge is that it's a completely opaque amount.  I thought everyone was subject to it but now I know that's not the case.  The local Iberdrola staff have always been very helpful in the past and I'll be telling them I want the type of plan that gives me full details of the calculation of each of the charges in the same way yours does.  It's a great help to have your breakdown as a concrete example.

There are 3 rates charged throughout the day. During the week the off peak times are midnight to 0800. Mid peak times are 0800 to 1000, 1400 to 1800 and 2200 to midnight. Peak times are 1000 to 1400 and 1800 to 2200. Weekends and public holidays are charged at off peak rates all day.

The prices change on a daily basis and the forecast rate for the next day are shown on Endesa and Iberdrola websites plus some local newspapers publish them as well.

Be aware that, if you change tariff or go back to one of the main companies, they have been charging a surcharge on top of the hourly rate since April so you need to ask at the office before signing anything. On another site, someone did say this surcharge was as much as an extra €95 a month although most are saying around 20 to 30 euro a month. 

As an aside, my daugher in UK was on a fixed tariff and paying £180 a month. She has just received a letter from EDF UK to say she needs to pay £317 a month from October. 

Reading replies seems to me every client with every electric provider has different plans, different tariffs and consequently pays different amounts.  No rhyme or reason.

I am with Iberdrola. Have a " tailored ccount" and pay a fixed amount every month.  The plan is until December 2025 and payable amount is adjusted every 6 months and at the end of the year any deficit or overpayment is adjusted accordingly.. I only have 1 tariff. No cheap rates .

This year , as the last, I was in credit .by more than a couple of months fee...so a FREE month +  credit.

 One must take into consideration that I have an energy input of 13.86 (  more than double of most people) and paid €36.18 for the convenience.  This is pro rata to size of the bill.

My monthly charge , which has just increased by €11 is now  €183.00 and  August bill for 854 units was €192.62.  So with constant aircon only € 9.62 in debit.  Reading the posts..that is surely a win win situation.

Hopefully next couple of months without heating or aircon should be well back in  credit again. 

However am saving up for a possible nightmare scenario in 3 years time.

This message was last edited by floella on 9/2/2022.

Hello floella

Not sure what you are trying to tell us with your post.

Could you tell us your latest bill details of €192.62. in full as laid out in your Iberdrola invoice?

Looks like the price of Gas and Electricity is going to get very  expensive...across the EU ..as the Russians have stop supplying gas to the EU indefinitely . ..which will cause  the retail price to rise ..with a immediate effect to business users including   the man in the street....you can also  bet your boots the the next new fashion trend across the EU will be onesies....LOL.

Don't understand what I am trying to say in my post, Kavanagh  ! 😂  

Thought you and arago were trying to make sense of the enigma k/a the Spanish electricity charges which my post was explaining is inexplainable?

Your " request" I send my bill as laid out by Iberdrola makes me think/ nay BELIEVE that  I am telling porkies because mine appears to be better value.

Well here it is. IN FULL  as of  August 2022

Capacity        Peak 13.856   =  34.65            

                Off Peak                 =     1.53

Energy  Invoiced   854 kwh =  114.12

Regulatory Chgs, Electricity Tax, Meter Rental, Home Electrical Protection =  8.89 ( obviously individually itemised)

IVA @ 21%   = 33.43.

TOTAL  = € 192.62.

For confidential reasons REFUSE to send a screen shot of the above info so if you don't believe me ..tough. ☺ 

That is amazing floella

I am paying:-

Energy invoiced Non-promotional periods 798,5 kWh x 0,323951 €/kWh 258,67 €

Promotional periods 886,5 kWh x 0,272313 €/kWh 241,41 €

And you are paying:-

Energy Invoiced   854 kwh =  114.12

That is 0,133629 kWh

Are you saying that is true and accurate?

IVA @ 21%   = 33.43

Last year IVA on domestic electricity bills was reduced from 21% to 10% and this year a further reduction brought it down to 5%, as shown on both my bill and Kavanagh's.

Why's IVA on your August 2022 bill still 21%