The price of electricity has shot up 27% in this start of 2021 due to the strong winter demand and the high costs of gas in the international market, reaching 16,81 cents per kWh, compared to 13,24 cents in the same period of 2020, according to data from Facua-Consumidores en Acción.
This increase in the price of electricity happens while the cold wave shatters practically the entire Iberian Peninsula due to the storm ‘Filomena’, a meteorologically extreme winter storm with low temperatures that involves the massive use of heating devices in houses, while more and more families are isolated due to the restrictive measures that the autonomous communities are re-applying to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
With the data for the first seven days of the year, the average user’s electricity bill would stand at 80,71 euros, which represents an increase of 19.3% over the 67,67 euros on the same dates last year. This analysis is on an average consumer of 366 kilowatt hours (kWh) per month and that has a contracted power of 4.4 kW, the organization points out.
While thousands of citizens look through their windows as the snow covers half of Spain, their electric meters are breaking records with prices of electricity that have never been registered in the electrical system. This Friday, the price of electricity in the wholesale market will touch 95 euros per megawatt / hour (Mwh). Never before has this price been so high, not even in the chapters of January 2017 and September 2018, when the electricity also shot up exponentially, raising the consumer bill.
The data from OMIE -the Iberian electric operator- anticipates a Friday in which turning on any electrical appliance will have an extremely high cost. Furthermore, if it is done between 11 am and 12 pm, or between 8 pm. and 10 pm., consumers will pay up to 114 euros per megawatt / hour.In plain English, it means that your bill is skyrocketing these days by almost 30% compared to what it cost to turn on the light just a week ago, when the year 2021 began.
The high cost of gas, low wind energy production and elevated demand for energy explains the rebound. But what is happening with electricity prices these days is not news. The behaviour of the price of gas in international markets triggers a large part of this price increase. Sources in the energy sector point out that there are reductions in gas supply from Algeria, Spain’s main supplier, highly dependent on the market in that country compared to the rest of Europe. In addition, the cold wave in Asia is generating demand there with record prices, which means that it is more expensive to transport gas to the Peninsula.
The joy in the pockets of the citizens has not lasted for a long time when facing the electricity bill. After 2020 with the lowest electricity prices in 15 years since last January 1 the price of electricity has skyrocketed to costs that have not been seen since September 2018. And it will continue to do so in the coming days.
This increase in the price of electricity happens while the cold wave shatters practically the entire Iberian Peninsula due to the storm ‘Filomena’, a meteorologically extreme winter storm with low temperatures that involves the massive use of heating devices in houses, while more and more families are isolated due to the restrictive measures that the autonomous communities are re-applying to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
With the data for the first seven days of the year, the average user’s electricity bill would stand at 80,71 euros, which represents an increase of 19.3% over the 67,67 euros on the same dates last year. This analysis is on an average consumer of 366 kilowatt hours (kWh) per month and that has a contracted power of 4.4 kW, the organization points out.
While thousands of citizens look through their windows as the snow covers half of Spain, their electric meters are breaking records with prices of electricity that have never been registered in the electrical system. This Friday, the price of electricity in the wholesale market will touch 95 euros per megawatt / hour (Mwh). Never before has this price been so high, not even in the chapters of January 2017 and September 2018, when the electricity also shot up exponentially, raising the consumer bill.
The data from OMIE -the Iberian electric operator- anticipates a Friday in which turning on any electrical appliance will have an extremely high cost. Furthermore, if it is done between 11 am and 12 pm, or between 8 pm. and 10 pm., consumers will pay up to 114 euros per megawatt / hour.In plain English, it means that your bill is skyrocketing these days by almost 30% compared to what it cost to turn on the light just a week ago, when the year 2021 began.
The high cost of gas, low wind energy production and elevated demand for energy explains the rebound. But what is happening with electricity prices these days is not news. The behaviour of the price of gas in international markets triggers a large part of this price increase. Sources in the energy sector point out that there are reductions in gas supply from Algeria, Spain’s main supplier, highly dependent on the market in that country compared to the rest of Europe. In addition, the cold wave in Asia is generating demand there with record prices, which means that it is more expensive to transport gas to the Peninsula.
The joy in the pockets of the citizens has not lasted for a long time when facing the electricity bill. After 2020 with the lowest electricity prices in 15 years since last January 1 the price of electricity has skyrocketed to costs that have not been seen since September 2018. And it will continue to do so in the coming days.
OMG how are we expected to pay these bills !!!! You Have to have the heating On or become ill 😷????