With the financial crisis and great recession fifteen years ago, many people discovered what a mortgage was. subprimeMany of those who speak freely about risk premiums and ratingsand many people who commented on the demands The Man in Black and troika. And with it energy crisis Over the past two years, the number of customers who know how to distinguish different types of tariffs has increased rapidly, many of them follow the electricity market day by day, keep track of when it is most expensive to put in a washing machine and Iberian exception has become more than it was Spain different.
increase in energy prices This increase, which has reached historical high levels for months, and the extraordinary measures implemented by the Government and the EU to alleviate the impact of the increasing spiral, have led to a rapid increase in the number of consumers who are increasingly informed about their electricity and natural gas bills, and the increases have accelerated accordingly. compared to previous years, as revealed by the latest wave of the Household Panel prepared by C.National Violation of Markets and Competition (CNMC) It falls in the second quarter of this year.
But gaps remain evident for millions of customers. Almost 45% of users still don’t know what electricity tariff they have hired, but more than 63% ignored it two years ago. In the middle of this year, just over half of Spanish households did not know the difference between electricity supply (51.3%) and natural gas (54%) in the free market and the regulated market. In the energy crisis, the proportion of people who did not know how to distinguish between the two main types of tariffs was much higher (almost 70% for electricity and more than 77% for gas).
Edited vs. free
Small electricity consumers (less 10 kilowatts of contracted power, (mainly households and some SMEs) can choose between contracting with regulated electricity tariffs, the amount of which depends on the evolution of the electricity price in Turkey. wholesale market– and free market offers, the quantities of which are freely determined by the companies and usually have fixed prices.
Traditionally PVPC was consistently the cheapest offer until the crisis blew up all market price records. Thanks right now Iberian exception (first) and due to the drop in gas price (currently), the regulated electricity tariff is once again cheaper than most offers on the free market, according to the CNMC price comparator.
The regulated electricity tariff, called voluntary price for small consumers (PVPC), suffered massive customer exodus during the energy crisis. In the last two years, two million users have opted out of the regulated tariff that major electricity companies are forced to offer (Iberdrola, Endesa, Naturgy, Repsol and Totalenergies) through certain marketing companies. However, the bleeding has slowed in recent months. Last June, the number of customers with PVPC was only 8.5 million; versus 19.6 million small consumers at free market rates.
Regarding natural gas, the Government’s aid to reduce the natural gas bills of millions of homes caused a shock and disrupted the market. The subsidies serve to reduce bills for customers with regulated gas rates by 40% and have created a historic business turnaround, with more than a million customers changing their contracts. However, they are still in the minority, with less than a third of total customers currently choosing this option. regulated oddsAlthough they are much cheaper than those on the free market. Exceptional relief for the regulated gas rate (called rates of last resort, TUR) expires on 31 December and the Government has not yet confirmed whether it will extend them.
CNMC has this tool “Understand your bill”It allows you to know which marketing company has a supply contract, the price type (PVPC or free market) or the expiration date of the contract.
Regarding electricity consumption habits, four out of every 10 households admit that they do not take into account the price difference between different times in their consumption habits when turning on the heater or running the washing machine. However, 34.7% claim to take this into account in their daily consumption. and 24.4% give it some consideration.