The government introduced a new type of app almost a year ago. electric social bonus as part of a shield of measures to confront the effects of the energy crisis. The new aid was not specifically aimed at vulnerable households, but rather amounted to a temporary 40% reduction. electricity bill For customers with average income.
The government announced Up to 1.5 million households will be able to benefit from the new temporary discountA company that finances electricity companies in proportion to their market share and reflects this on the bills of all its customers. However, the number of beneficiaries fell far short of this request.
According to official records Ministry of Ecological Transition, There were 25,583 sheltered homes at the end of last July Discounts of 40% are less than 2% of the total number of beneficiaries of the electric social bonus. The number of beneficiaries of the new bonus for vulnerable people has been steadily increasing since it came into force, and in some months the number of accepted applications has even reached over 6,600.
The total number of beneficiaries is dramatically lower than the potential defended by the Management, citing the low number of declared subscribers. Families were given the opportunity to benefit from the measure taken to protect themselves from price increasesbut in any case this request was optional.
This electricity discount for the ‘middle class’ -in principle, by the end of this year, unless the Management decides to extend this period- Households who have signed a contract with a regulated electricity rate and whose annual income is less than €27,700 (for families with two adults and two young children) and €16,800 (for families with a single adult) can access this service.
Record number of people receiving social bonus
Spain exceeded this level for the first time 1.5 million homes were supported To all kinds of social electricity bonuses. According to government data, the 1.52 million families who benefited from these rebates at the end of last July were surpassed after sharp increases in the number of beneficiaries throughout the energy crisis.
As part of anti-crisis measures, the electricity social bonus allows a discount on electricity bills of between 25% and 40%, depending on the degree of vulnerability (vulnerable, seriously vulnerable or at risk of social exclusion). The government temporarily increased rebates to 65% and 80% of the bill for the vast majority of beneficiaries. The extraordinary increase in aid will in principle only apply until the end of the year, and the Administration must decide in the coming months whether to extend the aid.
The number of beneficiaries of the social bonus has increased by 21% in just one year, with 267,300 new households benefiting from discounts for vulnerable and seriously ill people added since July 2022. Since the beginning of the energy crisis, The number of bonus recipients increased by 31% since May 2021, with 359,600 families According to a combined analysis of statistics from the Ministry of Ecological Transition and the National Markets Commission and Competition (CNMC) (just before the first emergency measures adopted by the Government in June of that year to mitigate the rise in energy prices).
Neighborhood gas rate
Last year the Government also created a new law. Subsidized gas rate for owners’ communitiesIt is aimed to reduce the bill price in centrally heated neighborhood blocks.
Since the new collective last resort rate (neighbourhood TUR) was introduced last October with a discount of close to 50%, some 6,700 neighborhood communities benefited from this, As approved by the Ministry of Ecological Transition. When this neighborhood was approved for TOUR, the Government predicted that a total of 1.7 million households would benefit from it, but did not specify the number of potential recipient communities.
Access to this new subsidized regulated rate, which is set to expire at the end of the year unless the executive extends this period, means that the beneficiary property-owning communities, in particular, will have to take on certain demands. Have a separate meter installed in each house before this month To ensure that society’s gas consumption does not increase compared to the average of the last three years. Some requirements that make it difficult for neighbors to reach an agreement to narrow the new tariff.