Changing your electricity supplier in Spain - Features at Typically Spanish

Changing your electricity supplier in Spain
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By m.p. - Jun 2, 2009 - 6:27 AM

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New regulations come into force on July 1

Electricity providers in Spain have been sending out letters to consumers informing them of new legislation which comes into force on 1st July. As happened in the UK, it opens up the market to other companies in allowing them to buy the power from the major electricity companies and then sell it on to consumers.

Sounds simple enough, but there are a number of questions to be taken into consideration before making a decision on which supplier to choose, added to which there’s also a government price increase due this July to be taken into account – as yet, no-one knows how much that will be, nor how it will affect the tariffs passed on to consumers in a freer market.

We’re given three choices in the letters which have been sent out:

- To move to one of the new ‘comercializadoras’ of electricity, the companies which will be allowed to sell electricity from 1st July. There’s a list of 18, and some are amongst those which already provide electricity in Spain. It’s a question of getting in touch with each company to find out their tariffs, or waiting for them to approach you with their offers.

- Then there are what are described as ‘last resort’ suppliers – ‘comercializadoras de ultimo recurso’. It’s a list of five companies – in fact, current providers in Spain, depending on where you live - who are obliged to supply electricity at a price no higher that fixed by the government. These companies currently offer no more than a 2% discount on the government tariff, and an automatic formula to set the new TUR rate – Tarifa de Último Recurso or Last Resort Tariff – will largely depend on the result of a ‘power auction’ between the new electricity suppliers due to take place in the second half of June. The TUR companies are Endesa, Iberdrola, Unión Fenosa, Hidrocantábrico and EON.

- The third option is to simply do nothing. You will automatically stay on your current tariff if you fail to move to a different provider before 1st July. It means your supply and invoices will come from a TUR company which belongs to the power group from which you currently contract your electricity supply.

Just to complicate matters further, there’s a new tariff being brought in known as the ‘Tarifa Social’. It applies to the owners of homes with a contracted power supply below three kilowatts, but with two conditions: the property must be a main residence and it must be fitted with a power limiter. El Mundo newspaper says what was previously known as the ‘nocturnal tariff’ will apply in such cases upon application.

It’s reported to be a confusing time for consumers in the sector, and most consumers’ associations are advising waiting to see what offers are available after the new legislation comes into force before making any decision. There is no deadline on when you have to choose who to buy your electricity from – you will stay on your current tariff until, or if, you decide to change.

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