Electricity to go up in the New Year
Friday, December 20, 2013 @ 7:07 PM
ELECTRICITY bills are set to go up yet again in January to pay off the government's debt with energy providers, despite promises that this would not happen for the foreseeable future.
Minister of industry José Manuel Soria says power will rise in price by two per cent, which will mean the average household has seen their bills increase by over 70 per cent since the start of the financial crisis five years ago.
And the number of homes with no heating in winter has gone up by five per cent in just two years as a result of electricity price hikes, complains consumer federation FACUA.
They say the average householder paid 77.98 euros a month for electricity in October 2012, and that this went up to 80.57 euros by October 2013 – a net price rise despite a momentary price reduction last October and this April.
The average consumer was paying around 44 euros a month back in December 2008, FACUA recalls.
Part of this massive hike in such a short time has been due to two increases in IVA – from 16 per cent to 18 per cent in summer 2010, and from 18 per cent to 21 per cent in September 2012.
When the current PP government came into power, electricity was an average of 73.99 euros a month for a typical household, and is expected to be over 82 euros by the New Year.
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