How will the new 2021 electricity tariffs affect you?

Please don’t worry.

We cannot stress this enough. Yes, there are changes coming to how energy is priced across all of Spain. But, no, you do not need to panic. We are not raising our prices and you will not be penalised – the modifications are based on governmental regulations.

Please note – these tariff changes are not isolated to Energy Nordic clients. These changes will affect everyone in Spain with access to electricity, regardless of who your supplier is. After over 3 years postponing these updates, the Spanish government and distributors have now confirmed these changes will come into place from 1st June 2021.

Many of you may have seen abnormalities on your meters in the last few months (‘P3’ readings etc), regardless of your supplier – this has been due to the introduction of these upcoming changes and new governmental regulations.

We are working hard everyday reviewing the data that is provided to us (drop by drop) to best optimise our services and products to ensure you continue get the best price possible for your energy, whilst following the CNMC guidelines and redefined changes from the distributors. As we receive more information, we will be informing each of our clients with the information that is specifically relevant to them.

The updates to the meters and the way electricity is billed will be automatic and you do not have to actively do anything. It’s also important to know that your power will not be cut by us at anytime as a result of these changes.

So, what are the changes?

Firstly, the most significant changes are to the new 2.0 TD tariff that will affect practically all households and a large part of consumers. Currently, ‘low voltage’ installations (potencia less than 15 kW) represent practically all Spanish households, between six different rates (2.0 A, 2.0 DHA, 2.0DHS, 2.1 A, 2.1 DHA, 2.1 DHS) according to their preferences and needs. With the change in regulations, these six tariffs are replaced by a single tariff: the 2.0 TD , therefore, all supply points with a contracted power (potencia) of less than 15 kW will have this tariff.

So, the access tariffs or access tolls 2.0 (electric power (potencia) less than 10 kW) and 2.1 (potencia from 10 kW to 15 kW) will all be renamed 2.0 TD.

There will be no more ’24 hour’ price option on the tariffs. ALL tariffs will now have 3 energy consumption billing periods and 2 potencia periods – this means you will be able to choose 2 potencias (the same or different) throughout the day to ensure you are optimised for your personal usage.

The new 2.0 TD rate distinguishes the geographical areas of residence, and it will not be the same throughout the country. In fact, five different areas have been established to define the time slots that will have a different price. The areas are the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, Ceuta, Melilla and the peninsula. In addition, in each of these areas four different electric seasons have been assigned according to the calendar: high, medium high, medium and low).

Three energy periods

The new 2.0 TD rate will have three different time periods for consumption, spilt over six time bands in which the cost of electricity will be different throughout the day. The schedule for new billing periods depends on the day of the week, the month, and the geographic area.

Billing periods from Monday to Friday working in the peninsula, the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands:

• VALLE (P3): It is the cheapest period and includes the night hours with a lower electricity consumption, from 00:00 to 8:00, as well as all day at weekends and national holidays.
• LLANO (P2): This period maintains an intermediate price and ranges from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. and from 10:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m.
• PUNTA (P1): It is the most expensive period and ranges from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Two potencia periods

Another great novelty that accompanies the new 2.0 TD access rates is the possibility for consumers to choose two potencia rates throughout the day. Depending on your consumption habits, this means you can choose a potencia for off-peak hours and another power for peak hours. The distributors are offering all consumers two free decreases to their potencia rate over the next 12 months so you can optimise your rates accurately and ensure you are not paying for more power than you need. Bonus!

These 2.0 TD rates will maintain two periods in power (PUNTA and VALLE) with the following hourly schedules:

Tariffs with potencia greater than 15 kW

Tariffs that require a power greater than 15 kW will now have 6 different energy consumption prices as well as 6 different periods of potencia, varying by day, time and geographical area. Please see the below article for more information related to this:

To summarise

To summarise these new governmental regulations coming in from 1st June 2021:

•  There will be more importance of concentrating your electricity consumption within off-peak hours (cheapest hours). As, with these changes, all consumers will now be affected by the times they use their electricity.
•  Until now, you would have contracted a certain rate for your electrical power (potencia) and if and when you exceeded it, the trip switches may have jumped and cut your power momentarily. With the new 2.0 TD rates you can now contract two different power rates for each period of the day and schedule the use of high consumption electrical appliances when the contracted power is higher. You can also make 2 decreases to your potencia rates in the following 12 months free of charge.
•  Your electricity bills from 1st June 2021 will include new breakdown of costs and usage such as the division of 3 different periods of energy consumption (PUNTA, VALLE and LLANO), as well as the division of the contracted electric power (potencia) into 2 periods (PUNTA and VALLE).
• We will be releasing more information about the updates to tariffs with potencia greater than 15 kW early next week.

The power of simplicity

Electricity bills have always been complicated and difficult to understand for most consumers, and now it will be even more complicated with the application of this regulation and added tariff periods. At Energy Nordic we understand that which is why we creating the simplest and clearest invoice on the market with a complete breakdown of all these costs so that you can understand exactly what you’re paying for (and at the best price possible).

Do you have questions?!

Of course you do. We completely understand you will have questions about this and how it affects you directly. We will be delivering more information as we receive it from the government and updating you at every stage – remember this won’t come into place until 1st June 2021. But please do pop a comment below and we will answer any queries you may have.