The electricity bill becomes 19% more expensive in August

BarcelonaThe electricity bill has become more expensive by more than 19% this August, despite high sunshine, which has led to increased photovoltaic generation. The causes of the price increase should be sought in an increase in demand, due to continued heatwaves that have boosted air conditioning use, and the rising price of gas, as during hours without solar production, generation with combined gas cycles has soared.

In fact, this is the most expensive summer on the electricity bill since 2022. At that time, the price of natural gas soared to historic highs as a consequence of the war in Ukraine.

The increase in the price of electricity affects electricity-intensive companies and households that have variable prices according to the wholesale market or pool, basically those with the regulated tariff or PVPC (voluntary price for small consumers).

Specifically, the electricity bill for an average user with the regulated tariff has shot up this August by 19.04% compared to the same month in 2025, reaching 88.81 euros, compared to the 74.04 euros it represented in the same period last year. For the user, this is 14 euros more compared to the same period last year. Compared to July, when the bill already registered a significant increase, the increase this August will be 3.65%, about 3.13 euros more.

This price evolution corresponds to an average consumer with a contracted power of 4.4 kilowatts (kW) and an annual demand of 3,900 kilowatt hours (kWh), distributed across the different periods (peak, flat, and off-peak). To simulate the price, a consumption of 30% during peak hours, 20% during flat hours, and the remaining 50% during off-peak hours has been calculated.

Of this total amount, the August bill would amount to 11.41 euros for the fixed term and 56.92 euros for the variable. The rest corresponds to taxes and tolls, according to data from the comparator of the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) consulted by Europa Press.

Until June there was some relief in the electricity bill due to the measures of the royal decree that was approved in March to combat the impact of the war in the Middle East. However, since June 1st, the VAT reduction to 10% on electricity bills has expired, and returned to the usual 21%, as a consequence of the moderation that its evolution had registered in the consumer price index (CPI), which this month of August has again shot up to 4.3%.

However, the second royal decree approved at the end of June in response to the Middle East crisis introduced the progressive reduction until its complete elimination of the tax on the value of electricity production (IVPEE), which went from 7% to 5% in 2026, to 3.5% in 2027, and to 0% in 2028.

Likewise, faced with a possible unfavorable evolution of electricity and gas prices, a safeguard mechanism was established that allows measures to be reactivated if the situation so requires. These measures affect both the special tax on electricity and the VAT on energy products. If the specific CPI for electricity in one month exceeded that of the same month of the previous year by more than 15%, the measures approved in March would be reapplied. That is, in the case of VAT on electricity, natural gas, pellets, and firewood, the rate would be reduced again from 21% to 10%. On the other hand, the special tax on electricity would fall again from 5.1% to 0.5%.

The price of natural gas, given the current uncertainty about supply routes from the Middle East, European reserves before winter, and this summer's electricity demand, has also not stopped rising in August, leading to a quotation, in the case of the Spanish Mibgas, currently above 66 euros per megawatt hour (MWh). In this way, the price of the wholesale electricity market — the so-called pool— registered a daily average in August of more than 118 euros/MWh, the highest level since February 2023.

Changes in the electricity market

Precisely this Monday, the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) announced that it has approved the modification of the operating rules for the daily and intraday electricity markets, as well as some electrical operation procedures, with the aim of boosting the continuous intraday market by introducing 96 trading rounds – one for each 15-minute interval –, as is done in the European electricity market.

The CNMC has pointed out that this measure will boost the continuous intraday market by introducing more trading rounds and bringing its closing closer to real-time, will improve the integration of renewable energies and will reduce system deviations, by allowing producers, consumers and storage facilities to update their schedules closer to real-time.

At the same time, it has indicated that it contributes to a more efficient operation of the electricity system, as more precise scheduling by the parties reduces the need for reserve activations and other system operation adjustment services. Market trading had traditionally been hourly since its origins in 1998. However, due to the high variability of renewable generation, the hourly breakdown no longer allowed this generation to schedule its production correctly, nor for the market price to adequately reflect the state of the system. In March 2025, trading in the intraday market, including the continuous market, evolved to a quarter-hourly product. Subsequently, in October of that same year, quarter-hourly trading was put into operation in the daily market.

The new review approved by the CNMC will allow this evolutionary process towards a quarter-hourly electric world to be completed, with the introduction of 96 rounds in the continuous market, which continued to be 24, in line with the old hourly scheduling, even though the product traded was already quarter-hourly.