ARCHIVED - Cost of electricity reaches yet another record high in Spain

Average August household bills in Spain are expected to top 100 euros

The summer of 2021 has seen an almost unbroken rise in the wholesale cost of electricity in Spain, and on Monday August 30 the price will reach yet another record high of 124.45 euros per Megawatt hour.

This marks a startling 22 per cent increase from the figure of 102.03 euros the day before as well as the seventh new record in the last two months, with the peak rate set at 132.92 euros between 9.00 and 10.00 in the morning. To put the latest increases into perspective, on the last day of August last year the equivalent price was just 42.01 euros, underlining the extent to which energy has become more expensive in Spain over the last twelve months.

So great is the level of concern over this seemingly endless upward spiral in energy costs that on Monday Teresa Ribera, the Minister for Ecological Transition, will appear in Congress to address the topic.

The wholesale cost of electricity is not the only component of household electricity bills, but it is an important one, making up around 24 per cent of the amount payable by owners throughout the country. As a result, consumers’ associations estimate that despite the rate of VAT on electricity having been temporarily lowered from 21 per cent to 10 per cent until December, the average monthly bill in August will come to 100.78 euros, equating to a 43.7 per cent increase over the last year.

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