Spain is located between the countries with the most expensive electricity price of Europe, according to the latest data published by Eurostat. Thus, in 2021 the price of light for Spanish homes with one consumption between 2,500 and 5,000 kilowatt-hours was 25.69 cents per kilowatt-hour, the fifth most expensive of the continent, behind Germany, Denmark, Belgium and Ireland, and ahead of the average of 22.86 cents in the 27 countries that make up the European Union. But, in addition to equal purchasing power (Purchasing Power Standard), Spain rose to third place, behind Romania and Germany.
Eurostat collects information from traders on the prices passed on to their customers and joins the rates of the regulated market (voluntary price for the small consumer), which depends on the wholesale price of electricity, in which there are around 9 million consumers; but also those of the free market, in which there are more than 11 million households, making it the best tool for observing the average price of electricity consumers. Figures include the basic price of electricity, transmission and distribution costs, meter rental and other services.
The price of light began to increase in Spain at the beginning of last summer, coinciding with the increase in natural gas prices throughout Europe, although it was from September when it shot up. Thus, according to the statistical thermometer of the European Union, the price of electricity with taxes in Spain went from costing an average of 23.23 cents in the first half to 28.16 cents in the second, 22% more than a year earlier .
The average for the countries of the European Union was 22.23 cents in the first quarter and 23.69 cents in the second. That is to say, the difference in prices in Spain with respect to the average of its environment increased from 5% in the first months to 20% at the end of the period.
The government reduced the electricity bill taxes from July 1 (from 21% to 10% VAT and from 5.11% to 0.5% of the excise tax on electricity and in addition, it temporarily suspended the 7% tax on electricity generation that companies charge) to try to contain the rise in consumer bills and added a reduction in charges in September (one of the two fixed components of the 97% with the aim of fulfilling the Prime Minister’s promise that the 2021 bill will be “similar” to the 2018 one after discounting the increase in inflation since then.
According to data from the European body, the smaller consumers (between 1,000 and 2,500 kilowatt-hours of energy consumed per year) paid 30.78 cents per kilowatt-hour, 3.06% more than in 2018; the means (with a consumption of between 2,500 and 5,000 kilowatt-hours) paid 25.69 cents per kilowatt-hour, 5.47% more than in 2018, while the households that consume the most (more than 10,000 kilowatt-hours of annual consumption), at a cost of 16.6 cents per kilowatt-hour had a lower price of electricity than two years ago.
The price difference in all three cases is lower than inflation, that between the months of December 2018 and December 2021 was 6.8%, according to the INE. And in the case of consumers between 5,000 and 10,000 kilowatts of power the price is almost the same: 21.86 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2018 and 21.80 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2021 with rising inflation since 2018 incorporated.