The electricity demand, below a normal day but without a large drop

BarcelonaOne of the main indicators of the impact of a strike is the drop in electricity demand. According to data from the system operator, Red Eléctrica, at 12 noon, electricity demand in Spain was 31,444 MW. To compare, last Wednesday, which was also a working day, electricity demand at this time was 36,027 MW. That is, 12.72% less electricity demand. But as the day progressed, the difference between this strike Wednesday and last Wednesday was narrowing.

Thus, the demand for electricity reached 32,300 megawatts (MW) at 6:00 PM, compared to 33,107 MW yesterday at the same time, according to data from Red Eléctrica de España (REE), which represents a fall of 2.42%. Likewise, the actual national demand at this time of day was 3.73% lower than the 33,554 MW forecast for this time by the system operator –prepared for November 11th if there had been no strike called–. Regarding Wednesday of last week –November 4th–, the electricity demand at 6:00 PM today was 5.1% lower.

First thing in the morning, at 8:30 AM, the fall in electricity demand was almost 9.5% compared to this Tuesday, while at 10:00 AM it stood at 6.6% and at 2:00 PM at 0.25%. Electricity consumption is an indicator used to measure the impact of a general strike, since when factories, businesses, or any type of economic activity stop, this consumption logically falls.

In the last general strike in Spain, which took place on November 14, 2012, electricity demand fell by around 11% for the whole day. However, the comparison with 14 years ago is not homogeneous, since electricity consumption in Spain has fallen since then due to factors such as energy efficiency or self-consumption, among others.

According to the latest provisional data from the Spanish electricity system provided by the system operator, the reduction in electricity consumption until 11:00 AM compared to the forecast made was 7.46%. Furthermore, the time at which a maximum reduction in electricity consumption had been recorded was in the 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM period, with a drop of 15.49%.

The Government, in its first statement regarding the strike, claimed that a decrease in electricity consumption of approximately 15% compared to yesterday had been recorded in Catalonia.

Discrepancies

The data, however, is also used to support their positions by both unions and employers' associations. Thus, the general secretary of CCOO, Unai Sordo, highlighted on TVE that energy consumption in Spain is at levels "closer to what is used on a Sunday than that of last Wednesday," a fact that, in his opinion, represents an "unequivocal sign that there is a significant stoppage" during the first hours of the strike day.

In contrast, the president of the major Spanish employers' association CEOE, Antonio Garamendi, has assured that the drop in electricity demand is 10%, "well below the 14% of the last general strike." Furthermore, he has described the call for a general strike as a "political and official strike" due to the call made for it by the government. This is how he stated it during an interview on Telecinco. "The data we have is, above all, when you look a bit at what the effect of energy is, that we are bordering on a 10% drop compared to what would be the demand of a normal day," he specified.

Having said that, he compared it with the last general strike and pointed out that the drop in electricity consumption is "well below what it was in the last strike, which was over 14%". In this regard, he pointed out that the data he has is that "there is normality." He also took the opportunity to "condemn everything that are spaces of violence, of blocking streets or roads" that are seen on the part of "some pickets" that "are not informative." In this sense, he has made a call so that whoever wants to work can do so, since "they have every right to work".