Iberdrola price rise

 Has anyone else noticed that Iberdrola have increased their prices by 2.6% on 1at January. Does this happen every year? Kevin

Hi Kevin - they say that the increase was imposed by the government - don't know if that's true or not!

I phoned them and they gave me two choices - either to fix the tarrif for a year or to go onto an off-peak tarrif.  Thanks to Auntie Linda and the Laird's advice, I chose the off-peak which gives you a huge reduction for 10pm to 1pm (I think it is 46% but don't have the papers on hand at the moment) and the afternoon and evenings rate is an increase of 16%.  This suits my routine and they came out and installed two seperate meters within about a week.

Hi Claire,

  How does the off peak tarrif work? Does it mean that you have no electricity outside those times ie  normal lights, cooking, etc?

Thanks

Hi Forhotsot - no, there is no interruption to the supply, just different prices for off and on peak. 

I take my shower in the mornings and make sure that I run the dishwasher and washing machine before 1pm so I get the cheap rate then.  I'm usually out in the afternoons when it is expensive so I hope it works out much cheaper for me.

At the moment the heating is on at peak times but hopefully the weather will improve soon!

Yes, the price of electricity is set by the government,as is the price of the 13/14kg. butane cylinders. The reason that the electricity is going up constantly is that for many years the gov. has been setting a price that didn't cover the generating / purchasing costs. This is why the 3 main electricity suppliers have a combined deficit of 16 billion euros.

 The off peak tariff sounds interesting. We could probably move a lot of usage to the off peak time. The main item we would be left with is the hob and oven. 

Does the standing charge change?

Thanks 

Kevin

Hi Kevin - they didn't mention any change to the standing charge, but then I didn't ask!! 

Aunty Linda and the Laird have been using the tarrif for a while and they said their bills had reduced dramatically.  For me, it is too early to say as I only changed over a couple of weeks ago.  There is an english language service on Iberdrola and they were very helpful so you could always phone and ask for the details.

 I've just looked at their site

/www.iberdrola.es/webibd/corporativa/iberdrola?IDPAG=ENWEBCLIHOGELEDISCON

and there seems to be a standing charge of around 20 Euros per k/wh contracted per year. So if I was to contract for 5 k/wh would my standing charge be in the order of 5x20 peak +5 x20 off peak giving a total standing charge in excess of 200 Euros +IVA?

If so I don't think I would make a saving as we only use the property around 10 to 12 weeks a year.