Turn Off the Lights!
Fifty-six percent of my electric bill is made up of taxes and other charges. The rest is a result of turning on the lights and taking the liberty of having a computer, a refrigerator, a television, a radio-alarm, and running water. And occasionally plugging in a microwave, coffee pot, hair dryer, or using the oven. And one or two electric stoves to warm up a room in winter. I have nothing else, no washer, dryer, stove top, kitchen extractor, water heater, heating system, dishwasher, or other appliances that could make it expensive to live with a little less work. But every two months I get a bill that makes me desire to pull out the electric meter from the wall and remove myself from the modern world.
For Spanish households the light bill has gone up 52 percent between 2008 and 2014. And it wasn't someone with a pony tail who is looking to become the next Prime Minister in December who proclaimed that. The study was made by the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. And, according to an article from La Voz de Galicia that used data from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (National Institute for Statistics), in that time period it went up thirty times more than the cost of a loaf of bread. And, eight times more than the average salary of a worker in Galicia. No wonder low-income households are having difficulty paying the bill. Also, some small businesses have problems. I know of a hairdresser's that was attending customers when a technician came, saying he had orders to cut off the electricity. The owner argued that she hadn't received any notification to that effect, and sent an employee with the authorization to pay the outstanding bill at the bank.
There is blatant abuse in our electricity bill, but no one can seem to do anything about it. The companies have been liberalized, but the differences in kilowatts per hour are so small, it's not worth the bother of changing companies for a few cents. The largest problem is the part of the bill where the price is set by the government. And that's the part few people understand. I've seen it explained and tried to follow the explanation, but it's slightly more difficult than having an algebra problem explained. Here goes to the best of my ability.
In the year 2000 a rate deficit began to appear, where the companies were charging less than it cost to produce energy. The government also began to aid renewable energies, and that also made energy more expensive (I still don't understand that part). The light bill we paid was for a smaller amount than what it cost to supply us with electricity. By 2013 that rate deficit reached around thirty billion euros. So the government raised the fixed part of our light bills to pay off that rate deficit and also stopped giving money to renewable energies. We also had to pay for the nuclear moratorium signed by Felipe Gonzalez in the long-ago 1980's. That was six billion euros that consumers just finished paying off last August. It's the part about the rate deficit that gets me and I have never found explained anywhere. If the energy companies are being paid by consumers less than what it costs them to produce electricity, why are the companies raking in benefits of millions of euros a year?
And, of course, there's taxes. In the breakdown, a special tax on electricity is calculated on the fixed charges and the consumption. Then, when the totals are summed up, the sales tax is calculated. On the total that includes the special tax. In other words, we have to pay taxes on a tax. Only in Spain.
And we get our bill every two months. If, for any reason, our meter can't be read, we pay only the fixed part of the bill. When the meter is read, they pass us the consumption charge on the next bill. They did that with us once. In the middle of winter I received a relatively small bill. I just smiled and put it away after paying. The next bill I received was through the roof. After I calmed down, I called the company and they explained that I was being billed for the normal, fixed part for two months, and consumption for four months because my meter hadn't been read the last time. It was a good thing we had enough money in the bank.
And don't think about installing solar panels and leaving the grid. If you install solar panels now, you have to pay for every kilowatt you produce. It doesn't matter that you are not taking from the grid. And if you produce extra, you also have to pay to send it into the grid. The government has taken away all incentive to using solar energy by effectively introducing a rate on sunshine. It's a lose-lose situation. Like I said before, only in Spain.
For Spanish households the light bill has gone up 52 percent between 2008 and 2014. And it wasn't someone with a pony tail who is looking to become the next Prime Minister in December who proclaimed that. The study was made by the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. And, according to an article from La Voz de Galicia that used data from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (National Institute for Statistics), in that time period it went up thirty times more than the cost of a loaf of bread. And, eight times more than the average salary of a worker in Galicia. No wonder low-income households are having difficulty paying the bill. Also, some small businesses have problems. I know of a hairdresser's that was attending customers when a technician came, saying he had orders to cut off the electricity. The owner argued that she hadn't received any notification to that effect, and sent an employee with the authorization to pay the outstanding bill at the bank.
There is blatant abuse in our electricity bill, but no one can seem to do anything about it. The companies have been liberalized, but the differences in kilowatts per hour are so small, it's not worth the bother of changing companies for a few cents. The largest problem is the part of the bill where the price is set by the government. And that's the part few people understand. I've seen it explained and tried to follow the explanation, but it's slightly more difficult than having an algebra problem explained. Here goes to the best of my ability.
In the year 2000 a rate deficit began to appear, where the companies were charging less than it cost to produce energy. The government also began to aid renewable energies, and that also made energy more expensive (I still don't understand that part). The light bill we paid was for a smaller amount than what it cost to supply us with electricity. By 2013 that rate deficit reached around thirty billion euros. So the government raised the fixed part of our light bills to pay off that rate deficit and also stopped giving money to renewable energies. We also had to pay for the nuclear moratorium signed by Felipe Gonzalez in the long-ago 1980's. That was six billion euros that consumers just finished paying off last August. It's the part about the rate deficit that gets me and I have never found explained anywhere. If the energy companies are being paid by consumers less than what it costs them to produce electricity, why are the companies raking in benefits of millions of euros a year?
And, of course, there's taxes. In the breakdown, a special tax on electricity is calculated on the fixed charges and the consumption. Then, when the totals are summed up, the sales tax is calculated. On the total that includes the special tax. In other words, we have to pay taxes on a tax. Only in Spain.
And we get our bill every two months. If, for any reason, our meter can't be read, we pay only the fixed part of the bill. When the meter is read, they pass us the consumption charge on the next bill. They did that with us once. In the middle of winter I received a relatively small bill. I just smiled and put it away after paying. The next bill I received was through the roof. After I calmed down, I called the company and they explained that I was being billed for the normal, fixed part for two months, and consumption for four months because my meter hadn't been read the last time. It was a good thing we had enough money in the bank.
And don't think about installing solar panels and leaving the grid. If you install solar panels now, you have to pay for every kilowatt you produce. It doesn't matter that you are not taking from the grid. And if you produce extra, you also have to pay to send it into the grid. The government has taken away all incentive to using solar energy by effectively introducing a rate on sunshine. It's a lose-lose situation. Like I said before, only in Spain.
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