Prosecution to investigate 'historic' electricity bill hike

CIVIL prosecutors at Spain's Supreme Court have opened an inquiry into the historic electricity price hike which came into effect yesterday (Friday), right in the middle of Spain's coldest 'freezewave' in five years which has seen snow on Mediterranean beaches for the first time since 1983.

The court prosecution service says it wants to investigate the reason for the 'successive increases' in household electricity bills 'in the interests of consumer protection', availing itself of its freedom to do so under the Law of Civil Judgment, reformed in 2014 to allow criminal court legal experts to take action under their own steam for the benefit of the wider public.

In the last few weeks, the end price of electricity to the consumer has shot up to levels not seen since December 2013, and those who pay a fixed monthly quota adjusted twice-yearly are now seeing from their 'information only' bills that their consumption is way above this set figure.

The National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) is investigating the matter to see whether providers are operating an illegal monopoly, whilst the ministry of energy, tourism and digital agenda, led by Álvaro Nadal, is also looking into the matter, bowing to pressure from consumer groups and the government's opposition.

Electricity use has rocketed by 113% across the country as a result of the polar winds which hit the mainland and Balearic Islands on Tuesday, bringing temperatures ranging from -10ºC to -21.5ºC overnight and leaving four inches of snow on beaches in the provinces of Alicante and Valencia.

Minister Nadal says the problem has been 'lack of wind and rain', both of which generate electricity very cheaply.

Providers have had to resort to combined power sources such as fossil fuel and natural gas, which are far more expensive, Nadal explains.

He announced two days ago that he intended to launch a series of measures to increase competition in the gas supply market in order to achieve better prices for end consumers, which would generate the knock-on effect of bringing down electricity bills where utility boards had to use gas to create power.

Current electricity prices, which soared yesterday, sit at €88 per megawatt (MWh) per hour, having already risen in the past year to €85.79 per MWh.

Daily supply requirements for the country as a whole for Friday were predicted to be around 633 gigawatts per hour (GWh) due to the cold snap, slightly higher than the 632 GWh used on Thursday, albeit lower than the 650 GWh used on Wednesday when the first snows fell on the east coast.

Electricity reached a record high of €91.89 per MWh in mid-December 2013 at off-peak times and €98.69 at peak times.

The price of actual power to the end consumer is only around 35% of their bills, with 40% being the standing charge and 25% taxes and charges, meaning it is very difficult to save money by reducing electricity use.

For 2017, the government has frozen standing charges and taxes.