OCU warns consumers that suffer rebills on electricity bill

Following the annulment by the Supreme Court (TS) of the rule which set the current marketing margin the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism has been valued at 26 million euros additional revenues that should receive the trading of reference. In the judgment the same TS urged the Ministry to set a new margin, implying surcharges on the electricity bill for at least 27 months to 12.4 million customers, who have the rate Voluntary Price for the Small Consumer (VBAC), according to estimates by OCU.

The amount of 26 million euros, according to some sources, is derived from the draft prepared by the Ministry of Industry and therefore should be rectified, is an amount less than that which would result if the Ministry had assumed in full the recommendation the CNMC to increase the marketing margin to 5.24€.

The current margin is 4€ per year per contracted kW. That amount, expressed in €/day is broken down on the bill of customers and refers to the income that the marketing is to provide the service.

According to the recommendation of the CNMC it can be estimated that a home that has contracted 4.6 kW and maintain the regulated tariff could accumulate a rebilling of 16€  including tax (1.24€/year per contracted kW). The amount fixed by the Ministry significantly reduces this regularization but not the terms or details of how to apply are not yet known.

OCU think that the solution is not simple, in the last 27 months almost 3 million households have abandoned the regulated tariff VBAC so be complex that regularization applies to customers who have not already hired the VBAC and belong to the market regulated.

Finally OCU informs consumers that those households that did not have contracted the VBAC rate should not be affected by these rebills.