October electricity: the dearest month since 2022

Spain’s wholesale electricity price averaged €166.65 per MWh in October, the highest since October 2022. A typical household bill on the regulated PVPC tariff rose to about €92, from €86 in September.

The figure is for a home with 4.6 kW of contracted power using 202 kWh a month; more than 8 million households are on the PVPC tariff, and the average bill has risen 28% in a year. The main cause is dearer gas due to the Middle East crisis and restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz: it rose from €74 to €98 per MWh in a month, while solar and wind plants produce less in autumn.

There will be no tax relief on November bills: Royal Decree 18/2026 cuts VAT on electricity to 10% and the electricity tax to 0.5% only if electricity in the previous month’s CPI rose by more than 15%, and in September the rise was 11.4%. OMIP futures for November are around €197 per MWh. Households on the PVPC may want to check whether a fixed-price tariff on the free market is now cheaper.