# Electricity charges



## pewe (May 12, 2015)

I was looking through the forum to try and get an idea of electricity prices in Spain and what I have gleaned so far is that it is different to the UK because of the you all appear to be charged different monthly charges based on your contracted maximum power supply, plus a charge per unit.

What I am trying to find (and can't seem to from the threads I have read so far) is what the 'average' charge per unit is - in addition to any monthly standing fee.

Can someone give me a clue???


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

14.70 potencia
00.77 meter rent
41.55 electicity
05.47 tax etc.

one months charges


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

pewe said:


> I was looking through the forum to try and get an idea of electricity prices in Spain and what I have gleaned so far is that it is different to the UK because of the you all appear to be charged different monthly charges based on your contracted maximum power supply, plus a charge per unit.
> 
> What I am trying to find (and can't seem to from the threads I have read so far) is what the 'average' charge per unit is - in addition to any monthly standing fee.
> 
> Can someone give me a clue???


Under 10kW the price is Government controlled at about 0.131931 €/kWh (I say about because we may have a special deal, I can't remember).


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## pewe (May 12, 2015)

Thanks guys that's really useful.

However I have one other question.
Does anyone know the approximate price per litre for heating oil currently.


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## pewe (May 12, 2015)

Hepa said:


> 14.70 potencia
> 00.77 meter rent
> 41.55 electicity
> 05.47 tax etc.
> ...


Hepa - that seems a lot cheaper for a month than in the UK (£45 approx) - how many units (kwh) did that 41.55 cover in the month?


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

The situation regarding electricity prices is more complicated now for consumers, like me, who have smart meters, because unit prices now charge by the hour, a system which was introduced from the start of each month.


! Spanish News Today - Hourly Electricity Rates Billing In Spain: What You Need To Know

There is a handy website where you can check the hourly prices on a daily basis, should you so wish

Tarifaluzhora

No idea yet whether this method of charging is going to work out more expensive or not, but my current bills, with a 3.45kw potencia, work out around 50E per month. 3.45kw is enough for us because we use gas for cooking and for heating in the winter.


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

pewe said:


> Hepa - that seems a lot cheaper for a month than in the UK (£45 approx) - how many units (kwh) did that 41.55 cover in the month?



Bosslady tells me 338, yes it is cheaper in the Canary Islands, we have our own equivalent of VAT, IGIC, which is only 7%, for example diesel here is under a euro and on other islands it is below 90 cents a litre


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

My last bimonthly bill (for late March to late May) was €96.82 which was for 394 kwh of electricity (that also includes the potencia charges, electricity tax and IVA).


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

For a 3-bed detached house, electric oven, electric heaters in the winter, fans and a portable aircon unit in summer, our bills average out at €100 a month. This includes a standing charge of €16.50 a month for a potencia of 4.6kW, which is plenty.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Please all, let's not replicate the other thread ('Electricity'). The OP asked for the average price per unit which he has.

Now, does any one know the price of oil?


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## VFR (Dec 23, 2009)

Yes Gasoilio B (heating oil) hovers around the 90c per/lit mark at present.


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## pewe (May 12, 2015)

Thanks VFR.

The £/€ exchange rate obviously affects comparison - at todays rate 90c is about 62p - but that does sound expensive compared to recent UK prices (about 37p per litre today) and even compared to less recent prices (about 55p last summer).

Thanks for the info.


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## Horlics (Sep 27, 2011)

pewe said:


> I was looking through the forum to try and get an idea of electricity prices in Spain and what I have gleaned so far is that it is different to the UK because of the you all appear to be charged different monthly charges based on your contracted maximum power supply, plus a charge per unit.
> 
> What I am trying to find (and can't seem to from the threads I have read so far) is what the 'average' charge per unit is - in addition to any monthly standing fee.
> 
> Can someone give me a clue???



It has been discussed many times, latterly with very clear information about what people pay,

If you're having to go over it in this much detail, you can't afford to live here.

That said, be aware, it will cost you less to live in Spain than it does to live in the UK.

Comparing electricity prices between Spain and the UK is interesting (for some, as is spotting trains) but irrelevant. Your consumption will be different because the weather is different and not many homes in the UK have pools in the garden, which are two examples of why it is irrelevant.


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## pewe (May 12, 2015)

Horlics said:


> It has been discussed many times, latterly with very clear information about what people pay,
> 
> If you're having to go over it in this much detail, you can't afford to live here.
> 
> ...


Sorry Horlics - I didn't go into detail but my questions were not related to moving to or living in Spain.

The figures were to work out some comparisons for a relative who already lives there but is currently over here in the UK for a while and therefore has no access to her bills to get figures from.


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## Horlics (Sep 27, 2011)

pewe said:


> Sorry Horlics - I didn't go into detail but my questions were not related to moving to or living in Spain.
> 
> The figures were to work out some comparisons for a relative who already lives there but is currently over here in the UK for a while and therefore has no access to her bills to get figures from.


You can get access to Iberdrola bills online which might help if she spends time away: https://www.iberdrola.es/customers/home/services/bill/ebilling


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## pewe (May 12, 2015)

Horlics said:


> You can get access to Iberdrola bills online which might help if she spends time away: https://www.iberdrola.es/customers/home/services/bill/ebilling


Thanks for that.

Not sure she is with them, but will check when I see her in the next couple of days.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

I think heavy electricity users could be in for a bit of a shock when their next bills arrive, if they have smart meters. I've been keeping an eye on the tarifaluzhora website for the past few days, and whilst before the hourly charging was introduced I was paying €0.128545 per kwh on the PVPC tariff, today for example there are only 7 hours of the day (the early hours of the morning) when the hourly price is less than that, it's higher for the other 14, up to €0.14603 in fact.

So everybody's bills will go up as a result of the new system, what a way to sneak in a price rise that people don't know about until they get hit with the bills.


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## Desiato (Jun 1, 2015)

We had a meter change in March 2013, I'm not 100% it was changed for a smart meter but I'm guessing it was. Our bills have been regularly very high and despite trying to utilise the night rate, we never get a bi-monthly bill under €300. What's worse, the heating and hot water are run on gas so something is eating our electricity at a rate of 10 units day/10 units night on average and It's been 30 units a day recently. 

I've just ordered an electricity monitor to connect up to the 3 phase system and we are looking at having the 13.586 kW Potencia reduced to 10.3kW or even 6kW if we can spread things out evenly (electrician says these are the only options, will have to dig a little deeper to see if that’s entirely true). Hopefully the monitor will identify any appliances that are eating more than their fair share. We have a back-up tall fridge and little freezer in a utility room and I have a feeling this is where a lot of our night units are going. 

It’s a biggish house with a pool but I've got the pool pump down to 4 hours a night (it takes roughly 4 hours to recirculate all the water once and as I add bleach every evening rather than rely on chlorine tabs, I can’t really run it any less). The lights have low voltage or Led bulbs and I make a point of turning them off when leaving the room. We run the dishwasher and washing machine in the morning (up to 1pm is the cheap rate….or was) so we are a little stumped as to why the bills have been consistently high (just seen one from Jan 2009 for €389 and from Nov 2011 for €370 so it’s not a new thing). The rates from the last bill were 0.180712 for day and 0.096807 at night so with a change to 0.14603 and 0.128545 I can’t see it making a lot of difference to our bill. 

I've been thinking about starting a new thread about what I can do to root out the electricity guzzlers but I literally ordered the elec monitor on-line yesterday so we’ll see what that shows up.

We are with Endesa so not sure if the new rates effect us?


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

I suspect that you just have a digital meter which is NOT the same as a smart meter. Unless you specifically ask for dual tariff, then you'll just be on the one rate.

Does your bill show the two rates. If so, then I'm wrong.

Certainly going down to 7kW or even less (we're on 5.75kW for a large house with everything electric - hob, A/C, pool etc.) then your bills will be high.


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## Desiato (Jun 1, 2015)

snikpoh said:


> I suspect that you just have a digital meter which is NOT the same as a smart meter. Unless you specifically ask for dual tariff, then you'll just be on the one rate.
> 
> Does your bill show the two rates. If so, then I'm wrong.
> 
> Certainly going down to 7kW or even less (we're on 5.75kW for a large house with everything electric - hob, A/C, pool etc.) then your bills will be high.


All the bills I've been able to find show the two tariffs and I did a test the other week to see what time they switched over (it was as stated on the bill 1pm and 11pm)

I've read quite a few threads here about electricity and a few people (you were probably one of them) mentioned they had larger houses with pools and everything electric and a 5.75kW supply. This is why I've been on a bit of a mission lately to find out why ours is so high, especially when we aren't using electricity for heating or air con. The electricians (who I am told are very reliable and have been helping the family for 20 years) are very sceptical about us being able to go as low as 5.75kW so hopefully when the monitor turns up it will answer all my questions. I've gone for the Efergy e2 if anyone's interested, I'll let you know what it says my average and peak usage numbers are and then I'll be able to tell the electricians which way we want to go.

*edit* I've just taken a photo of it and it is the same as the one on the right on this webpage http://solsolutions.eu/?p=410


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## Desiato (Jun 1, 2015)

I appreciate I have hijacked this thread but it would seem that the OP has got the info he came for so rather than start another electricity thread...

The monitor has been installed for over a week and despite my best efforts to pull the plug on things not in use (rather than leave them in standby) I still can't get my daily units use under 20 (averaging 22 atm). I think one thing that has been overlooked when people say what appliances they use is children. My two spend far too long on their laptops and along with laptop use comes lights and constant trips to the fridge. As I work from home, I'm also on this PC as well as a laptop and these alone are taking the wake up reading from 450watts to 1kW. I've also ordered another monitor which is for specific appliances as I need to identify (over a longer period, say over night) how much each appliances is using (updates to follow).

But, here's the main reason for this update. The electricians have just been in to test a line to the pool as their meters are reading a fault but they then went on to discuss the option of lowering the 13.586kW to 6.928kW (which I think will be fine). They are adamant that we can't go lower than 10kW because if we go down to 10kW that means we have to change the amps to 10 as well and because the washing machine and dishwasher are too powerful for 7 amps, we can't go lower than 10Kw. This makes no sense to me at all so wanted to know if there are any electricians out there who could explain to me what he is talking about because it flies in the face of what everyone else is doing. Sorry, I know very little about electrics and it's the one thing I'm paranoid about after nearly electrocuting myself in my teens trying to fix an old TV (don't ask).


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

@Desiato - the electrician is trying to hoodwink you.

We run 5.xx kW and have all the modern appliances including a large washing machine. In fact, the washing machine is on the same circuit as most of the kitchen and all is fine.

The hob and oven draw the most and have their own 30amp circuit! So 30A from a 5.xxkW circuit works perfectly. So, for them to say you can't draw 7 amps from anything less than a 10kW supply is rubbish!


Perhaps change electrician to one who knows what he's talking about! Is the electrician Spanish? With respect, is your Spanish OK in terms of communicating with him?


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## Desiato (Jun 1, 2015)

My Spanish isn't great (for reasons I won't bore you with now) but my son was able to fill in the gaps so I understood what he was saying but not why he was saying it. My (Spanish) wife will be talking to them later, as well as her brother who designed the house to see if he can shed any light on it (as well as compare bills as he's got a largish house as well). Her family seem very happy with him but unless I've seriously got the wrong end of the stick, something isn't right.


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

Spain reminds of the days before the breakup and liberalisation of the Electricity
& Gas monopolies back in the UK. With the end result that you now have a
multiple choice of Energy Suppliers in the UK - with even the Supermarkets
pedalling for your custom on Energy Supply and trying to outdo one another
on energy prices.

The same is not true here in Spain.


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