180 degree turn in the price of electricity: from paying 36 euros to exceeding 130 on average

The price of electricity once again rises above the 130 euros megawatt hour (MWh). The cost has undergone a 180-degree turn since the beginning of the year, when clients linked to the regulated market price paid 36 euros MWh on average. This December 4, 2023 133 euros will be reached. And this after closing a month of November with the highest price of the year since February 2023.

This is explained because November has been, with 104.43 euros/MWh on average, the month with the highest wholesale price of electricity in 2024 due to lower wind and nuclear productionwhich has forced greater use of gas combined cycles, a fuel whose price has also increased significantly.

The price of electricity on December 4, 2024

He price of light This December 4, 2024 it will cost 133 euros MWh. The most expensive hour of the day will take place from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. (€174.99/MWh) while the cheaper It will take place from 04:00 to 05:00 in the morning, with a price that exceeds 100 euros MWh.

How the price of electricity has changed this year

These tall priceswhich lately invite you to use the household appliances that consume the most at dawn, have been protagonists since last July. January of this 2024 began with an average of 36.24 euros, very far from the averages of more than 100 euros that clients with contracts linked to the regulated price or PVPC have recently faced.

According to data analyzed by Selectra, during November the cost per hour is quite similar to what we had in 2021, when the low prices They were only during the early mornings, with the difference that, some days now, prices drop around 2:00 p.m.

How to save when using the appliances that consume the most

Selectra experts give an example to save on the bill of light to do a laundry “to put a reference appliance, but in general we must be careful with any appliance that consumes energy and at this time we must pay special attention to the use of heating.”

Thus, experts recommend that in this case the best option to prevent the billwithout having to get up early and disturb the neighbors, would be to look for the time slots that offer us an average price, such as 2:00 p.m. or carry out the activities that consume the most energy during the weekends, when demand drops and prices too.

According to Selectra, when doing the calculations you have to take into account that the washing machine is, along with the oven and the hob, the appliances that consume the most. Speaking of heating, the electric radiator consumes much more than if we heat the home with a split.

Less tax reduction

Why does the electricity bill go up? To the high prices that will be noticed throughout the year, we must add that the prices have been declining or reducing. tax cutsamong them those of VATwhich the Government applied to lessen the effect on consumers of the price increases caused by the war in Ukraine.

According to the simulator of the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC), the electricity bill of a typical consumer, with a contracted power of 4.4 kilowatt hours (Kw) and a monthly consumption of 60 kilowatt hours (KWh ) during peak hours, 70 KWh on the plain and 120 KWh in the valley, is 63.89 euros in November, 18.13% higher than October and 34% higher than in the same month of 2023.

This typical consumer accumulates a bill of 564 euros in the first eleven months of 2024. The bill for the entire year 2023 for that consumer, although in this case it does correspond to the 12 months of the year, amounted to 633.17 euros, which represented a drastic reduction compared to the 1,096.53 euros it amounted to in 2022 and the 824.55 euros in 2021, years in which the price of electricity skyrocketed, especially after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The electricity bill for this month of November is the highest in all of 2024, surpassing that of August, which was 57.19 euros; and the largest amount since February 2023, when it reached 64.48 euros. The electricity bill includes, in addition to the price of electricity, regulated costs (tolls and charges), the rental of measurement equipment, the margin for the marketing company for the services provided and taxes.

Precisely to limit the impact of the rise in electricity prices in the market on consumers, the Government reduced taxes that have then been progressively recovered, such as the special tax on electricity or VAT.