The price of electricity continues to rise and will be 2.8% more expensive tomorrow for regulated rate customers

In the wholesale market, the rise is 4.15%, which is more than seven euros today.

The average price of electricity in the wholesale market will rise again this Friday, with a rise of 4.15% compared to this Thursday, on the third day of application of the so-called 'Iberian exception' to cap the price of natural gas for the generation of electricity, approaching the level of 180 euros per megawatt hour (MWh).

Specifically, the average price of electricity this Friday will be 177.90 euros/MWh, which is 7.09 euros more than today's price (170.81 euros/MWh), according to data from the Iberian Market Operator of Energy (OMIE) collected by Europa Press.

The maximum price of electricity for this June 17 will be registered between 11:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m., with 196.61 euros/MWh, while the minimum for the day, of 159.81 euros/MWh, will be between 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.

However, this price must include the compensation that demand will pay for cogeneration plants and combined cycles.

This charge, which is calculated on an hourly basis, has been placed for this Friday at an average of 88.48 euros/MWh, compared to 88.2 euros/MWh yesterday, having to be paid by the consumers who benefit from the measure , consumers of the regulated rate (PVPC) or those who, despite being in the free market, have an indexed rate.

In this way, the price that clients of the regulated rate will pay will be 266.38 euros/MWh on average, 2.8% more than the 259 euros/MWh to which it rose this Thursday.

These prices are being registered, yes, in a context marked these days by the heat wave and high demand, with a very exceptional participation of gas plants in generation.

In fact, the demand for natural gas for electricity generation reached 764 gigawatt hours (GWh) this Wednesday, surpassing the record of 754 GWh reached on June 20, 2008, according to data from Enagás.

The Iberian mechanism, which finally received the green light from Brussels last week, limits the price of gas for electricity generation to an average of 48.8 euros per MWh over a twelve-month period, thus covering the coming winter, a period in which which energy prices are more expensive.

Specifically, the 'Iberian exception' sets a path for natural gas for electricity generation at a price of 40 euros/MWh in the initial six months, and subsequently, a monthly increase of five euros/MWh until the end of the measure .

The Government limited in its calculations to 15.3% the reduction in the receipt to the average electricity consumer covered by the PVPC regulated rate during the 12 months of application of the approved cap on the generation of electricity from natural gas, according to evidence in the impact report that accompanies the decree law and to which Europa Press has had access.

For the industrial consumer, totally exposed to the 'spot' price, the Government estimated a reduction of between 18% and 20%, with the first month of the mechanism oscillating between 15% and 17%, and between 13% and 15% at last.

Compared to a year ago, the average price of electricity for this Friday will be 91% more expensive than the 93 euros/MWh of June 17, 2021.

The prices of the 'pool' have a direct impact on the regulated rate --the so-called PVPC--, to which almost 11 million households in the country are covered, and serve as a reference for the other 17 million who have contracted their supply in the free market.

In fact, the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) has verified that in 2021, in the framework of the upward spiral of energy, around 1.25 million people switched from the PVPC to a rate in the free market at a fixed price.