It is the new electricity price-setting system that has been introduced by the Government that is applied to the electricity bill of those consumers whose contracted power does not exceed 10 kW. The PVPC replaces the previous Last Resort Tariff (TUR).

As per before, the electricity bill will have two components:

• The cost of producing electricity.

• An amount fixed by the Ministry of Industry to pay for all the activities necessary to bring the electricity supply to our homes, as well as other costs borne by the electricity system.

With the new PVPC system the only modification is the method of calculating the price of producing electricity. From now on, the consumer will pay for their consumption over a billing period, the final price obtained in the electricity market; therefore the CESUR auctions previously used for establishing the price of energy will disappear.

Red Eléctrica, as the transmission agent and operator of the Spanish electricity system, publishes daily the new electricity pricing schedules, as established in Royal Decree 216/2014 of 28 March.

From its position of independence and neutrality, Red Eléctrica keeps society informed, and does so with total transparency by providing citizens with a tool to help them manage their power consumption more efficiently. In this sense, it provides useful information to the consumer so that they can change their consumption habits, constantly adapting them to the price of energy, and therefore consume more intelligently.

At around 8:15 pm each day, Red Eléctrica, via its website, publishes the electricity pricing schedule that will be applied in each of the 24 hours of the following day. Prices are displayed according to three types of tariffs:

• A.-General tariff.

• B.-Nighttime tariff or hourly discrimination.

• C.-Super-valley tariff (electric vehicle).

Those consumers who have a smart meter installed capable of hourly metering, will have these new prices applied to their bill in accordance with their hourly consumption throughout the day.

Therefore, having access to more information regarding hourly pricing schedules will allow those consumers with a smart meter to adjust their bill, if they adapt their electricity consumption to the time slots during the day when electricity is cheaper.

By 2018, 100% of residential consumers in our country shall have a smart meter installed, whereby these prices will be applied to the 16 million users who are covered by to the PVPC.

If you still do not have a smart meter installed in your home, and while the electricity companies install them, the hourly price tariff will generally be applied via a consumption profile that Red Eléctrica constantly updates, according to our patterns of behaviour as consumers. Consumption profiles are also published through Red Eléctrica’s corporate website.