12% less
The current electricity price for regulated-rate customers connected to the wholesale market rose by 34.6% this week, reaching 261.99 € per megawatt-hour (MWh) for the week from Monday through Sunday, according to provisional figures from the Iberian Energy Market Operator and collected by the EP.
This figure results from the sum of the wholesale market average auction price and the compensation that demand pays to the combined cycle plants under the Iberian exemption, a measure designed to cap gas costs for electricity generation.
During the auction, the average price of electricity in the wholesale market, known as the pool, stood at 193.03 € per MWh on Monday. The intraday peak was expected between 20:00 and 21:00. The day’s lowest point, 147.70 € per MWh, was anticipated between 03:00 and 04:00, with the maximum reaching 248.80 € per MWh at times.
On top of the pool price, a compensation of 68.96 € per MWh is added, which must be paid to gas-dependent companies, whether they serve regulated tariff customers (PVPC), those benefiting from the Iberian exemption, or taxpayers. In the free market, prices remain indexed to other benchmarks.
The price scenario without the Iberian exemption shows what the cost would be in Spain for electricity without the gas-price cap: roughly 298 € per MWh on average, implying an additional roughly 36 € per MWh. As a result, regulated-rate customers would see an average saving of about 12% compared with the exemption’s absence.
The Iberian mechanism, which began on 15 June, sets a cap on gas prices for electricity generation at an average of 48.8 € per MWh over a 12-month period, providing a cushion during the winter when energy costs tend to rise. The mechanism outlines a path for natural gas used in electricity generation, featuring an initial increase of 40 € per MWh in the first six months, followed by a monthly increase of 5 € per MWh until the measure ends.