Spain Approves New Energy Contingency Plan
Spain News
Published: 13 October 2022 18:52 CET
Spain’s Council of Ministers has approved its new Energy Contingency plan that should see households and businesses save money this winter.
The Spanish government's plan is to slash the use of gas by between 5.1 and 13.5 percent and to provide new protection for households, in particular the more vulnerable.
The government has said that in order to “protect the most vulnerable,” it will extend the thermal and electricity bonus schemes in order for them to reach the largest number of households possible.
It will increase the discount it offers on the power price for "vulnerable" and "severely vulnerable" households to 65% and 80%, respectively. It will also fund a 40% discount on low-income worker's power bills.
As many as 1.7 million families living in buildings with central heating will also get price cuts.
"We will protect 40% of households," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told lawmakers.
The new plan shows that the Spanish government has stayed true to its word and will not introduce any form of limitations on energy use in private homes.
One thing that has been included though, is something called the ‘comparitive’ electricity bill which will include the average electricity consumption of neighbouring households and businesses. Energy-saving tips will also be listed on the back of the bill including things like limiting the heating temperature setting to a maximum of 19 degrees Celsius, keeping doors and windows shut when using heating or air-conditioning and shutting down shop window lights at night.
Another measure that has been added is that 1.6 million households that use community boilers will receive a considerable discount to their energy bill. At present, these properties don’t benefit from the natural gas TUR, and the Spanish government is still in the midst of trying to resolve how exactly this can be changed.
Solar panels and self-consumption have also been included in the new plan. The government plans to continue the promotion of self-consumption by adding a further 500 million euros in aid to the 900 million euros that has already been approved. Additional fiscal aid has also been included to help encourage investment by households in energy transition.
All in all, the new plan is made up of 73 measures, in six blocks with recommendations for administrations and households.
Sources
https://www.20minutos.es/noticia/5068311/0/el-gobierno-modificara-la-tarifa-regulada-del-gas-para-reducir-a-la-mitad-las-facturas-de-los-hogares-que-tengan-caldera-centralizada/
https://spanishnewstoday.com/spain_approves_series_of_new_measures_to_reduce_energy_consumption_1856523-a.html
Image Credit: La Moncloa
