Electricity prices and global events reshaped energy choices in Spain’s Valencia region
Rising electricity costs, ongoing conflicts abroad, and supply blockages have shifted how customers approach the electricity and gas markets. This climate prompted notable market movement and frequent changes in marketers. Yet in this challenging environment, Valencia emerged as an autonomous community with the fewest gas supplier changes in the last quarter of 2022, a pattern confirmed by the latest CNMC data on market dynamics.
In the public dialogue about energy policy, the government highlighted a historic tax relief in the energy sector, a measure that proponents say translates into substantial savings for households and businesses. Valencia, alongside other regions, experienced a shift in its energy exchange landscape. The autonomous community posted a comparatively low exchange rate of 4.9 percent with Andalusia, the nation’s benchmark for minimal marketer turnover. By contrast, the national average stood at 8.4 percent. These figures come from comparing the rate of marketer changes to the number of active supply points registered within each area.
Although Valencia showed loyalty by maintaining its preferred marketer, the quarterly picture differed markedly from the same period a year earlier. In the fourth quarter of 2022, there were 31,371 marketer changes, with 18,799 being exits from the regulated market or gas related. This represented a substantial decline in regulated-market activity compared with the prior year, illustrating a broader rebalancing in customer choices amid policy shifts and price pressures.
Looking back to the last quarter of 2021, the market recorded 16,031 marketer changes, roughly half the current figure. Moreover, only 562 customers migrated to the regulated market, a figure that, despite being a small portion, marked a dramatic rise of more than 3,200 percent in regulated-market entries from the previous year. The government’s reductions to the regulated tariff, together with a lingering dependence on Russian gas, appear as significant factors shaping this trajectory in energy consumption and supplier behavior.
Loyalty among electricity providers in Valencia also mirrors a degree of caution or conservatism. The region stands as the second lowest in terms of marketer exchanges, following the Canary Islands and outside the smaller totals seen in Ceuta and Melilla. This tendency toward stability aligns with broader consumer hesitancy during times of price volatility and policy readjustments in the energy sector.
Totals for energy coverage show a steady rate of change. Overall light point exchanges reached 3,651,305 during the calculation period, a figure that reflects a 4.4 percent rate similar to the 4.5 percent recorded in the same period the previous year. While the national average rose in the face of energy crises and soaring prices, Valencia’s metrics stayed relatively stable. When considering the crisis context and price spikes, the figures actually climbed slightly from 4.8 percent to 5.2 percent, indicating a measured resilience within the local market.
In 2022 the number of company changes within Valencia reached 164,004, a slight decrease from 161,098 changes in the prior year. The drop underscores a trend toward increased reliance on energy produced outside the region, a consequence of growing demand outpacing local production in many markets. This shift signals structural changes in how regional supply mixes are composed and which producers hold influence in the local grid.
CNMC’s total market changes reveal important patterns for light and gas suppliers in Valencia. A dominant share of these changes took place among electricity distributors categorized as light companies, accounting for a substantial portion of the total activation and switching activity. In total, these moves amount to 119,837 changes, representing about 74 percent of the market activity—an indicator of the central role of distributor-level dynamics in shaping consumer experience and market competition.
Alongside this there were 25,072 exits from the regulated market to the free market. That figure accounts for roughly 16 percent of all movements. There were 16,135 entries from the free market back into the regulated market, about 10 percent of the total. A small number of reference trading changes between regulated market players, around 54, represented a minor portion of overall activity but still illustrate ongoing adjustments within the regulated framework.
Across the board, these data point to Valencia becoming more energy-dependent on supplies from other regions as market demand grows. This dependence aligns with broader national trends of energy diversification and increased cross-regional exchange as producers adapt to price signals and policy shifts. Industry observers note that the balance between local generation and imported energy continues to influence both pricing dynamics and consumer choices in the Valencia region.
In summary, Valencia’s energy market demonstrated relative stability in the face of upheaval and policy changes, yet underlying shifts were evident. The region maintained loyalty to its marketers while experiencing broader national trends in price volatility, cross-regional supply, and regulatory adjustments. The interplay of price relief measures, geopolitical factors, and evolving public policies continues to shape how households and businesses select electricity and gas suppliers, with Valencia illustrating a nuanced middle ground between steadfast loyalty and strategic adaptation.