How to save money on your energy bill in Spain

Electricity has been breaking price records in Spain in the last year, and the need to find more sustainable energy sources is constantly present in the social and political debate. 

To avoid unpleasant surprises with the electricity bill and be more environmentally friendly, it is clear that we should start by consuming less. But what else can we do to get more out of our electricity bill and make our consumption more sustainable? 

We are going to explain to you a few peculiarities about how electricity tariffs and the energy grid in Spain work so that you get more for your money.

Find the tariff that best suits your needs

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In Spain, there are very different electricity tariffs to suit different pockets and consumption habits that reward those who need less electricity and do so at certain times, known as off-peak hours, when overall consumption is lower.

What you pay monthly or bimonthly depends mainly on your household usage and the power you have contracted in your home, which is the number of kilowatts (kW) you can simultaneously request from the electricity grid.

Adjust the contracted power to your needs. Do you use a lot of electricity at home, do you have electric heating, do you use a tumble dryer? If not, perhaps you should review the kilowatts you have contracted with your supplier. The more power you have, the more you will pay each month as fixed costs.

But be careful, if you go too far in reducing the power and it is not enough for you, it will also cost you money (around 60 euros for each bracket within the scale), which could cancel out all the savings you would have achieved. 

Power can usually be changed once a year through the supplier, but exceptionally, with the entry into force of the new energy regulations, two free power changes are allowed until 31 May 2022.

Another novelty is the tariffs that offer two different power ratings: one that runs from 8:00 to 00:00 and another cheaper one for the night hours, as well as weekends and public holidays. In this way, it is more economical to do things that consume more, such as running a tumble dryer or charging an electric car, at night.

Compare tariffs. Choosing the tariff that suits you best depends on the power you need and the hours in which your usual consumption is concentrated. 

If your budget is tight and a few Kws are enough, you can opt for the regulated tariffs, with prices established by the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism. The Voluntary Price for the Consumer (PVPC) tariff, also known as the hourly electricity tariff, requires that the contracted power does not exceed 10 kW. The price of the kWh changes every hour in three periods throughout the day, peak (when it is most expensive), flat (intermediate price) and valley (the cheapest hours). The difference between a peak and off-peak hour can be 50%. With this tariff you pay the closest price to the production cost in the market, and therefore it is very affordable.

If this is not enough for you, there are many free market tariff options (offered by private companies) for all kinds of power. These offers have no price limitations and can be very diverse: with hourly discrimination, with a flat rate so that you don't have to worry about the time of day you consume or even with fixed instalments so that you pay the same price for electricity throughout the year. In this case, the supplier may also decide to offer discounts or interesting promotions.

For groups with fewer resources, the government has created a benefit known as “bono social de electricidad”, which represents a 25% discount compared to the PVPC. This aid is aimed at those who have a contracted power of less than 3 kW, receive a minimum retirement pension, are large families or all members are unemployed.

The Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC), which is in charge of regulating this market, has an energy offer comparator on its website that you can use. 

Consumption efficiency

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It is difficult to change your lifestyle. A broom can't always do the job of a hoover. That's why this advice is not so much aimed at reducing your consumption of electrical appliances, but at using them more wisely.

If you have to buy new appliances, make sure they are energy efficient, i.e. category A+ or higher. Although they may cost a little more initially, you can save in the long run. Similarly, lighting your home with LED bulbs will also pay off over time.

Run your dishwasher and washing machine when they are full and use the eco mode.

Fill the fridge. The fridge and freezer consume more when they are empty. Frozen food helps keep food cold. You can also put those blue blocks that are used to keep your drinks cold in a portable fridge. 

If you live alone, an alternative to cooking in the classic built-in oven is an air fryer. The oven is usually too big most of the time. The air fryer transmits heat by convection through the air, instead of through a heating element, and therefore requires less electricity.

Beware of leaving your devices on standby when you are not going to use them for a long time. They will continue to drain electricity.

Investing in self-supply

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Have you ever thought about taking advantage of the long hours of sunshine in Spain and being energetically self-sufficient? Being 100% independent from the electricity grid is practically impossible. But the truth is that installing photovoltaic panels on the roof of your normal home could save you money in the long term, as well as contributing your bit to the fight against climate change.

It is estimated that a solar panel installation that consists of an average of around 10 modules requires an initial investment of approximately €1,000 to €10,000, depending on whether it is a single-family home or a community of neighbours. With this, an average household can save between 50% and 80% on its electricity bill and amortise the investment in seven or eight years, which is plenty of time until the installation reaches its 25-year lifespan. On the internet you can find calculators that estimate how much the installation would cost, how much you would save on your bill and how many years it would take to recover the investment.

Although this is a significant investment, there are currently aid programmes to finance self-consumption installations, energy storage equipment and air-conditioning systems with renewable energies in Spain, as well as deductions in personal income tax and reductions in property tax.