Electricity tariff price today July 20: cheapest hours | The mail

Electricity prices, this July 20.

‘petrol cap’

The megawatt hour will be paid at the most expensive time at 154.35 euros, and at 137.47 euros at the least expensive

The daily wholesale market, the reference for the regulated electricity tariff (PVPC), recorded an average of 147.54* euros per megawatt hour (€/MWh) for July 20. The cheapest hour will be from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. (€137.47/MWh) and the most expensive from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. (€154.35/MWh). To these amounts is added the compensation for the ‘gas cap’.

On May 13, Spain approved the containment mechanism known as the Iberian Gas Exception and Brussels gave its approval on June 8. This tool will operate until May 31, 2023 and will limit the initial maximum gas price to 40 euros/MWh for the first six months. Then, it will gradually increase until it reaches 50 euros on average during the year when the measure will be in force.

In return, the gas companies must be compensated for this difference between the ceiling imposed by the government and the price of hydrocarbons on the market. This money comes out of the pockets of the consumers benefiting from the measure, who are those covered by the PVPC or those who are on the free market but who have a tariff indexed to the regulated one.

The wholesale market will become cheaper insofar as renewable energies will be more or less predominant in the auctions. If wind or solar photovoltaic succeeds in fundamentally displacing the combined cycles of price alignment, the bill will be lightened. Gasworks mark the “pool” price at certain times. And while there aren’t many of them, this has a ripple effect on the offerings of other generations’ technologies.

The cheapest hours for the price of electricity on Wednesday, July 20

Evolution of the price of electricity

If the “Iberian exception” manages to make the recipe cheaper, the first beneficiaries will be the consumers of the regulated market (the PVPC), but the users of the free market will also benefit from this initiative since their supply contracts expire and must be renewed.

Government measures

The government has implemented a series of measures in recent months to control electricity prices. The last of these – approved on June 25 – is the reduction of VAT from 10% to 5%, which the executive says will mean a reduction of around 5 euros on an average bill of 100 euros per month .

The rest of the measures previously agreed are maintained, such as the suspension of the electricity production tax and the reduction to 0.5% of the special electricity tax. The social bonus discounts are also extended: 60% and 70% for vulnerable and very vulnerable consumers, respectively.

Previously, the government changed
expenses of the electrical system. They represent one of the components of the regulated part of the bill – the other is made up of tolls – and are used to pay for concepts such as incentives for renewable energies, part of the costs of transporting energy to islands, or the amortization of the deficit rate.

The amount of these charges has been reduced – from March 31 to December 31 – compared to those approved at the end of last year. A measure that will lower somewhat both the price of the power subscribed and that of the energy consumed.

Changes in the daily wholesale electricity market directly affect users of the regulated tariff. However, consumers in the free market – in which a price is agreed with the marketing agent on duty for a certain period – are also affected by high market prices for electricity when renewing their contracts.

New pricing structure from June 1

The rise in the electricity market price began in early 2021, months before the
news fee structure. This price system establishes for domestic consumers two periods of subscribed power (peak and off-peak) and three energy periods (peak, flat rate and off-peak). The
price difference between the sections lies in tolls and fees, higher at peak (from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.), intermediate in the plain (from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.). at 10:00 a.m. and from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.), and more affordable during off-peak periods (from 12:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m., as well as all weekends and public holidays).

With these changes, it was planned to shift consumption to times when energy demand is lower, to avoid overloading the networks which would have led to greater investment in these infrastructures, with the consequent increase in the cost of the bill.

However, a greater contribution from renewables can disrupt this pattern, so that certain off-peak and peak hours – especially daytime power plants – are sometimes cheaper than those at off-peak hours. To find out what price PVPC users will pay for the kilowatt-hour consumed the next day, you can consult
Red Electrica website.

Tips to lower the bill

Getting a cheaper bill involves changing a series of
habits. The first of these, consume as much as possible in the valley sections. This is one of the ways to control price fluctuation and save on the bill. Another great tip is to adjust the contracted power as much as possible, as you often have more than is actually used.

Before the generalization of digital meters, it was almost impossible for a domestic user to know his electricity consumption. But with the new measuring devices, everyone can access this data.

The distributors – owners of the “cable” through which the electricity reaches the point of consumption – already offer this information on their web pages and mobile applications. In Euskadi, this can be done through the website of
IDSname with which Iberdrola baptized its distributor.

Another way to
lower the electricity bill is to use appliances efficiently. For example, choosing programs that operate at low temperatures in the washing machine or dishwasher, turning off the electric hob or the oven before the end of the cooking time to take advantage of the residual heat, or removing the “stand by” to completely turn off the devices.