The People’s Party outlined its recommendations for addressing the energy crisis, including measures to curb rising prices. The document was forwarded to Moncloa for review, containing sixty proposed actions. Among them is a mechanism to provide incremental discounts on electricity and gas bills for households that cut their consumption the most compared with the previous year.
The government has pledged to study the proposed measures. It is noted that benefits would accrue to those who follow the publicly disclosed contingency plan, which is set to be sent to Brussels later this month. The plan emphasizes austerity and efficiency to advance energy autonomy in the face of Russia, while the People’s Party criticizes elements it views as already in place or insufficiently specified, and notes some provisions with potential adverse effects that the party had opposed or abstained from in Parliament.
Teresa Ribera, the vice president and minister of Ecological Transition, described the event and warned that the bonus mechanism suggested by the People’s Party could favor higher-income households by providing a larger margin to reduce power usage. She emphasized the need to shield vulnerable households and avoid unintended consequences for those with lower incomes.
PP energy plan: 5% to 40% discounts on electricity and gas bills to reduce consumption
There is a clear perception that, under current conditions, households with greater resources have historically wasted more, resulting in larger potential savings for those willing to curb consumption. Ribera conveyed this in an interview, stressing the necessity of protecting the most vulnerable families and sectors at highest risk due to volatile energy prices. The goal is to balance support with safeguards so that savings do not come at the expense of broader welfare.
The People’s Party proposes a stronger, progressively structured bonus system aimed at lowering consumption by wintertime. The policy envisions subsidies ranging from 5% to 40% on both electricity and gas bills for the period from November 1 to April 1, applying to residential and business users alike. These discounts are designed to incentivize prudent energy use while maintaining essential services during peak months.
Critics argue that the plan may offer extensive benefits without transparent funding sources, unless explicitly tied to General Government Budgets. There is concern that the scale of the discounts could be too large to allocate equitably, potentially producing regressive effects if wealthier households disproportionately reap the savings. The party estimates the total cost at around 2.9 billion euros, a figure it supports through its own projections and through a public budget that would be charged to electricity marketers who implement the discounts for end customers.