The Secretary of State for Energy, Sara Aagesen, reviewed this Friday the evolution of the first five months of application of the energy contingency plan. Until February, the last full winter month, gas consumption in Spain has fallen by 19% and electricity by 7% compared to the same period of the last five years. In the European Union, reserves are at 68%, while imports of Russian gas remain at 6%. Regarding consumption throughout the winter, 28% of the demand for gas in the EU has been covered by own storage, while the rest came from imports. “Storages in Europe are at all-time highs,” Aagesen assured at an event in Madrid organized by the Ministry of Ecological Transition.
In the case of Spain, underground gas storage is at 78%. Consumption throughout the winter was, “at most”, a third of the total reserves, according to the Secretary of State. The average price of energy in February was 52 euros per megawatt hour, 68% less than in August, the most critical month for prices. In this sense, Aagesen has praised the operation of the cap on gas and has pointed out that “the markets have reacted to the fact that Europe is not willing to pay any price”.
The so-called “+energy security plan” was launched last October to alleviate the effects of price increases derived from inflation and the war in Ukraine, which has unleashed an energy crisis. The lines of action focused on reducing the amount of the bills and achieving lower electricity and gas consumption. To this end, measures were implemented such as lowering consumer bills through, for example, the thermal social bonus, technical revisions of public lighting to make it more efficient, the reduction in gas consumption or the promotion of self-consumption in homes. .
Regarding the reduction in consumption, which was one of the pillars of the containment plan, the demand for natural gas fell by 19% between August and February, without considering exports. It is the most marked decrease when compared to the same period of the last five years. For its part, electricity demand decreased by 7%.
Last Resort Rate (TUR)
The Ministry of Ecological Transition has estimated the impact of consumer protection measures at 5,506 million euros. In the case of the Last Resort Tariff (TUR) for gas, Aagasen has stated that the savings on bills is 40% compared to what consumers who are not attached to this regulation have to pay. 2.5 million people have taken advantage of these rates until February. Since June the number has grown by one and a half million people, with a significant peak in January, when more than 200,000 new transitions to the regulated rate were added.
In the case of neighboring communities, the data for February add up to 964 beneficiaries, leaving a total of just over 5,000. The TUR is much less common in the communities of owners due to the difficulty in agreeing with the neighbors or the processing difficulties in the electricity companies.
The Secretary of State closed the event by appealing to the need to reform the electricity market: “In the end, energy is systemic and is needed in everything. If we want a competitive industry we need to reform the market”. In previous appearances, Aagesen had already influenced this idea, calling for a regulation that gives stability to prices and increases the weight of green hydrogen and biogas.
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