Electricity rises by 1.2% for households in 2017 – the Observer

The electricity tariffs in the regulated market will rise by 1.2% for domestic consumers from 1 January, which represents an increase of 57 cents to an invoice monthly average of € 47.

The rates the transitional to consumers who have not yet migrated to the liberalized market, which prevail during the entire year of 2017, have the variation the lowest since 2006, the year in which the increase was also 1.2%.

The increase of the tariffs of electricity, released today by the Regulatory Entity of Energy Services (ERSE), due to the impact of debt service costs "to a historically high level", despite the reduction in the interest rate differential of cost with the special regime production – the production of water and wind was higher than expected and income from the lease of the municipalities in the Autonomous Regions.

Still, the futures price of electric energy resulting from the descent of the oil price – lower than in the previous year and the measures adopted by the Government enabled to mitigate the increase in rates in 2017.

Among the legislative measures considered in the fixing of tariffs for 2017, are about 70 million euros (140 million euros), which will be paid by the electricity producers in the special regime, which benefited from double support, the 50 million euros of extraordinary contribution on energy sector (CESE), similar to what already happened in the rates for 2016, and still the revenue arising from the auctioning of allowances of greenhouse gas emissions.

Already the social tariff of electricity will continue to represent a discount of 33.8% in relation to rates, transient sales to final customers (before VAT and other taxes), that is, the reference prices in the regulated market, but consumers who are already on the free market benefit from the same reduction.

In the social tariff, compared to the discount of 33.8% in relation to fares transitory, the increase in monthly will be 25 cents to an invoice monthly average of 20.4 euros.

The liberalized market of electricity had in August more than 4.6 million clients, representing more than 91% of the total consumption in Portugal.