Electricity price: the cheapest hours
Very slight drop today in the price of electricity, which drops to 214.5 euros per megawatt hour (MWh). These are the cheapest hours to put the appliances and that the electricity bill does not go up too much
Very slight drop this Friday in the price of electricity, which barely gives up a few cents compared to Thursday. After the increase on Monday and Tuesday, with a rise of almost 32%, the drop on Wednesday of 1.58% compared to the previous day, and the new rise on Thursday of 2%, today Friday the cost of electricity fluctuates downwards again (-0.11%). Even so, the price of electricity continues at levels above 214 euros per MWh for the second consecutive day, specifically at 214.5 euros/MWh. The consumer must therefore continue to carefully observe the cheapest hours to put energy-intensive appliances, such as the oven, the washing machine or the dishwasher, taking into account this price of electricity set by the wholesale market (also known as ‘pool ‘).
With this reduction of 24 euro cents on average on Thursday’s electricity price reflected by the Iberian Energy Market Operator (OMIE), the cost for today, Friday, is therefore 214.5 euros/MWh. Compared to the 79.8 euros/MWh that was paid on June 3, 2021, it means that electricity is 168.8% more expensive than a year ago.
Faced with this situation of crisis and global rise in prices, consumers measure every euro they can save, hence the usefulness of consulting which are the time slots in which the price of electricity is lower and, therefore, the consumption of household appliances penalizes household bills less. Consumer associations warn of the scarcity of essential services and advise to take a good look at bills.
Price of the cheapest and most expensive hours (in MWh.)
In this sense, the price of electricity on the wholesale market has a direct impact on the final cost that the consumer has to pay to start up the electrical appliances in their home. Hence, for all those users covered by the Voluntary Price for Small Consumers (PVPC), the average cost set by OMIE today is 214.5 euros/MWh, before adding the corresponding tolls and charges to the pool.
In this way, the most expensive time to connect appliances today will be between 23 and 24 hours, when electricity will be paid at 240 euros/MWh euros/MWh. And on the other hand, the cheapest hours to take advantage of and not increase the bill will be between 4 and 5 p.m., a section in which the minimum price of the day is registered with 172.44 euros/MWh.
Prices Friday June 2
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cheapest hour
Between 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.: 172.44 euros / MWh -
most expensive hour
From 23 to 24 hours: 240 euros/MWh
The electricity ‘pool’, at 214.5 euros per MWh
This Wednesday, therefore, the average price of the electricity pool – the wholesale market in which energy is bought and sold on a daily basis – will be a few cents lower than those registered the previous day, as announced by the Market Operator Iberian Energy (OMIE). The prices of the ‘pool’ have a direct impact on the regulated rate -the so-called PVPC-, to which almost 11 million consumers in the country are covered, and serve as a reference for the other 17 million who have contracted their supply in the free market .
Evolution of the price of electricity (in euros / MWh.)
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Price June 3, Friday:
214,5 euros / MWh. -
Price June 2, Thursday:
214,74 euros / MWh. -
Price June 1, Wednesday:
210,45 euros / MWh. -
Price May 31, Tuesday:
213,82 euros / MWh. -
Price May 30, Monday:
206,62 euros / MWh. -
Price May 29, Sunday:
161,84 euros / MWh. -
Price May 28, Saturday:
162,35 euros / MWh.
For this reason, one more day the price of electricity will vary significantly hour by hour throughout the day, depending on the tolls and charges established in each of the time slots of the electricity rate. In fact, the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) has verified that in 2021, in the framework of the upward spiral of energy, around 1.25 million people switched from the PVPC to a rate in the free market at a fixed price.
The amount that the consumer pays on their electricity bill is expected to be reduced in a few days due to the approval of the Royal Decree Law in the Official State Gazette on May 14, which establishes the mechanism to limit the price of gas for electricity generation at an average of 48.8 euros per megawatt/hour (MWh) over a twelve-month period. However, said mechanism is pending a formal decision from Brussels and to be initialed by an order from the minister for its application.
While this is happening, Kepa Loizaga, delegate of the OCU in Euskadi, launches in an interview in this newspaper a series of tips to “reasonably save about one hundred euros a year on the electricity bill by changing schedules.” He assures, among other things, that “as important as shifting as much electricity consumption as possible to off-peak or flat hours will be a good choice of
electricity rate as well as the contracted powers – two can be chosen, one for off-peak hours and one for peak hours.