Price ceiling for gas used for electricity generation in Spain led to savings in family accounts energy An average increase of 24.4% over the summer, according to a report from the Esade School of Business Studies released today.

Spain and Portugal agreed in June European Union introduce a new system to reduce the price of gas and coal used for electricity generation by temporarily subsidizing the costs of fossil fuel power plants.

Between June 15 and August 31, when Spain experienced record high temperatures, price-controlled households — not on the free market — saved 24.4% on their electricity bills compared to the scenario for the same period, Esade said. no limit all .

The report calculated the cost of the average Spanish household consuming 8 kilowatt-hours per day if the cap had not been put in place, and found that with the cap they would have saved around €69 over that period.

With at least ten million households in Spain under regulated prices, Esade’s calculations put the total savings at €600 million.

Energy Minister Teresa Ribera told Parliament the day before yesterday, Wednesday, that the ceiling had resulted in household savings of around 17 euros a month.

But the report says that when less renewable energy is produced, as was the case in the summer when there was less wind and rain, the gas cap creates an incentive to consume gas, which runs counter to the decarbonization targets set by the EU. .

France’s electricity exports have skyrocketed, meaning a country that doesn’t fund the measure could benefit from it, the report says, and a distortion that could spread to the rest of the EU if the cap were passed elsewhere .

^{Source: APE-MEB, Reuters}