Electricity bill. /
The INE still does not include these prices after almost a year of analysis to try to readjust inflation conditioned by the cost of energy
The National Institute of Statistics (INE) still does not incorporate the price of the free electricity rates paid by 20 million Spaniards into the calculation of the CPI (Consumer Price Index), almost a year after the body began to assess the possibility of including these prices for a calculation more adjusted to the reality of inflation. Until now, the price index only takes into account the amount of regulated rates (38% of the market, with nine million supplies), but leaves out the rest, which are the majority.
The incorporation of free rates was called to be the measure for the CPI to be readjusted and, in practice, not to rise as much as it did at the beginning of the year. So, a large part of the prices of this modality were below the regulated rate and, above all, they avoided the daily fluctuations in prices marked by the electricity market.
However, when the Iberian cap was put into operation, the regulated rate has managed to stabilize despite spikes such as the one in August, and in many cases it is below the price of the free rates, which have had to be updated upwards and , at the same time, incorporate the cost of gas adjustment.
In this context, the INE “continues to work” on the process to add regulated rates, they indicate in the institution. And it has been since January. The abrupt departure of its president, Juan Rodríguez Poo, in the summer for “personal reasons”, after several months of disagreements with the department headed by Nadia Calviño, resulted in a new position (Elena Manzanera) that she had in the reformulation of the CPI and GDP its two great challenges.
About to end the year, the data published by the INE still does not reflect a good part of the price paid by millions of consumers for electricity. And since electricity is the product that has pulled the shopping basket up the most, the agency has been working for months on the formula to include all electricity contracts in the official CPI register.
It is not technically easy, as the institution has always recognized. So much so, that the INE wanted to incorporate these free market contracts into the official inflation data last January. And ten months later it still doesn’t. Then “it was not possible”, indicate Statistics sources.
eternalized process
Vice President Calviño herself has always considered that this situation translates into “a rapid transmission of inflation.” Each euro that the kwh of the regulated rate raises directly raises the CPI. It supposed “an overweighting” of a specific rate, according to Calviño. But now, with the changes in the market in recent months, having free rates would not change the IPC as much and could even cause an unexpected statistical rise in prices.
To incorporate this mass of contracts, it is necessary for the electricity companies to provide their data. Given the complexity, the companies came to request an extension of the granted term and hope that the information will be available to the INE in the shortest possible time. But that day has not yet arrived and there are still no clear signs to do so in the short term.
Families spend 211 euros on energy per month
Spanish households allocate 11% of their income to paying the energy bill, with the average monthly expenditure on gas, electricity and fuel standing at 211 euros. This is reflected in the study of ‘The energy bill in the home’ carried out by the Mutua Owners Group, where it can also be seen that vulnerable households are those that, proportionally, spend more income on paying for energy, reaching close to 25%. of the total.
The increase in the energy bill has caused greater attention to be paid to certain routines with the aim of reducing spending. Filling appliances more (93%), reviewing bills to find out monthly consumption (83%) and regulating the temperature of the heating or air conditioning are the three most common energy habits in the home.
The growth in energy costs has also meant that 30% of Spaniards have seen their community fee increase by 31.6 euros per month, some 380 euros more per year.