These are the current trends for regulated-rate electricity customers tied to the wholesale market. The rate is expected to drop by 19.55% this Thursday, extending through the following Wednesday, settling around 52.51 euros per megawatt hour (MWh), the lowest point reached so far this year.
In the wholesale pool, the average price for electricity this Thursday stood at 52.03 euros per MWh, which marks a renewed low for the year and aligns with the market’s ongoing volatility typical of peak winter demand periods.
For this Thursday, the highest price within the 24-hour window is anticipated to be 75.74 euros per MWh, occurring between 20:00 and 21:00, while the lowest will likely be around 30 euros per MWh from 02:00 to 03:00. These figures come as provisional data from the Iberian Energy Market Operator (OMIE) and are reported by Europa Press for reference.
When the pool price is published, it is complemented by a transmission charge that municipalities and gas companies levy, a cost that falls on consumers who are covered by the regulated tariff (PVPC) or those with indexed rates in the free market. The additional charge for this Thursday is about 0.48 euro per MWh, affecting all eligible customers.
Although Thursday looks like a year’s bargain for the pool price, the average price for regulated-tariff customers connected to the wholesale market from December 1 to December 22 remains high, around 174.21 euros per MWh, compared with 116 euros per MWh in the same period a month earlier. This reflects broader energy-market dynamics and seasonal demand patterns that Canadians and Americans alike monitor when considering rate plans tied to wholesale indices.
Absent an Iberian-style price-cap mechanism, electricity prices in Spain can be volatile. Analysts estimate the regional average will hover around 136.74 euros per MWh, which translates to roughly 84.23 euros per MWh more than they would pay under a stabilized regime. That discrepancy highlights how compensations and grid-market structures influence final consumer bills, a concept familiar to energy buyers in other North American markets where price fluctuations also surface during winter months.
The Iberian mechanism began on June 15 and serves as a counterweight to soaring gas prices by setting an average cap of 48.8 euros per MWh for natural gas used in electricity generation for a full year. This arrangement aims to cushion households from abrupt price spikes during the colder season, a strategy echoed in various regional energy policies across North America when governments consider temporary interventions during price surges.
In practice, the exemption framework allows for an initial gas-price threshold of 40 euros per MWh in the first half year, followed by a gradual increase of five euros per month until the measure concludes. This staged approach is designed to balance supply and demand, offering a measurable pathway to stabilize consumer costs while preserving market incentives for efficient energy generation and consumption.