How does Spain’s electricity bill compare to other European countries?
In the last five 5 years, the electricity bill in Spain has risen by more than the average in Europe.
It is often said that Spain has the third most expensive electricity in Europe, behind just Cyprus and Ireland. However, this conclusion is the result of a mistaken comparison, which is not tax-inclusive. In many European countries, subsidies for renewables are not included in the power supply bill as occurs in Spain, and are paid for through other taxes or fees. For this reason, the only equivalent comparison is one that is tax inclusive. For example, in Germany prices are more expensive because they include a fee for funding renewable power sources. Similarly, other countries such as Italy have higher prices than in Spain. These are precisely the countries that have an increased penetration rate of renewables and the highest volume of subsidies towards these sources of power. At the other extreme, we have countries such as France, with energy prices below the Euro Zone average, due to a more balanced generation mix with stronger weight on lower priced energy sources such as nuclear and hydro.
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