Billing of new electric tolls

The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the CNMC have decided to adapt the electricity tariff structure to the current social and technological situation. These changes are intended to encourage self-consumption and the use of electric vehicles, as well as to shift consumption to off-peak hours when consumption is at its lowest.

As of 1 June 2021, this is the regulation* governing the methodology and calculation values of the access tolls and charges applicable to the electricity supply in Spain. Here are the main points to help you understand these changes.

Tariff structure

Under the new method, consumers are categorised under a structure similar to the current one. In other words, consumers are categorised based mainly on the voltage level they use to connect to the grid and, in some cases, on the amount of power they have contracted. Using this classification, the costs of distribution and transmission via the electrical grid are collected separately from other charges (other expenses relating to aspects of the system that are regulated), published by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.

The new method also reflects the recent changes to the electricity market, establishing specific tolls for self-consumers of facilities that use the grid and publicly accessible electric vehicle charging points.

The new structure will be as follows:

In the table above, you can easily see which tariff applies to you under the new system. The main difference with the current system is that all consumers now have different tariff periods based on the time and month. In the case of homes, the 2.0TD tariff has three energy periods and two power periods.

Hourly periods

The aim is to incentivise consumption during the hours when the system has its lowest demand levels; thus, the tolls and charges will be cheaper during these periods.

2.0TD Supply

The tariff distribution for a 2.0TD supply is as follows:

3.0TD and 6.1TD Supply

The seasons allocated to 3.0TD and 6.0TD supplies for the Balearic Islands are:

The seasons allocated to 3.0TD and 6.0TD supplies for the Peninsular are:

How are these tolls billed?

Billing by contracted power

This multiplies the power unit cost by the amount of power contracted by the client for all tariffs except for 2.0TD, as the power is contracted for each of the individual periods, this means that the power contracted in period Pn+1 must always be equal to or greater than the power contracted in the previous Pn period.

Billing by energy

This multiplies the energy unit cost by the energy consumed during the corresponding period.

Billing by power demanded

Clients without a maximeter cannot demand more power than they have contracted as their counter simply does not allow them to.

However, the most significant changes arise for domestic tariffs with a maximeter and to 3.X tariffs that are currently billed under the famous “maximeter rule”.

For supply points with a contracted power of less than 50kW, billing for excess power is applied to double the difference between the power demanded and the hourly contracted power at the corresponding toll’s excess power unit cost.

Where:

For supply points with contracted power above 50kW, the power is controlled as it has been up until now by taking readings every 15 minutes of the metering equipment according to the following formula

Where:

Billing by reactive energy

This billing method is exactly the same as for inductive reactive energy, with a penalty of 33% being applied to active energy consumption, excluding low-voltage tolls. In addition, the Notice adds the condition that high-voltage supplies must maintain a power capacity factor of at least 0.98 in period 6. Initially, the idea was to penalise excess usage at a rate of €0.05/kVArh, but for now, no financial sanction has been established in the final ruling.

How are power purchase agreements adapting to this change?

In order for supply points to adapt to the new legislation quickly and simply, below are the main differences between the current system and the new system.

2.0TD tariff: This tariff gives consumers the same power for the two periods under the new system as they have already contracted under the current system.

3.0TD/ 6.1TD tariff: In the event that a consumer changes from a tariff with 3 periods to one with 6, the following adaptation is made.

It is worth highlighting that once this Notice enters into force and the adaptation is made; consumers may change their power purchase agreement twice in order to adapt to the new periods defined in the Notice for no additional cost within 12 months from 1 June 2021, even if 12 months have not yet elapsed since the last time they changed their power, where technical requirements so allow.

* Related legislation

The changes summarised here can be found in more detail in the following documents. The total cost for the end client will be determined by the sum of the distribution and transmission tolls plus the system charges determined by the CNMC and the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, respectively.

CNMC

• Toll calculation methodology(https://www.boe.es/eli/es/cir/2020/01/15/3 )
• Correction of errors in the calculation methodology(https://www.boe.es/eli/es/cir/2020/01/15/3/corrigendum/20200219 )
• Postponement of entry into force until 1 June 2021(https://www.boe.es/eli/es/cir/2021/03/17/3 )
• Toll costs(https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2021-21208 )

MINISTRY

• Cost calculation methodology(https://www.boe.es/eli/es/rd/2021/03/09/148 )
• Cost of the charges(https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2021-21794 )