MADRID, 31 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -
The rate of last resort (TUR) for individual natural gas will rise by an average of 8.19% starting this Monday, January 1, in relation to the price in force since the previous review on October 1.
Specifically, for an average customer TUR 1 (kitchen and domestic hot water) will mean an increase of 11.35% in their annual bill with taxes - with VAT, set for this first quarter at 10%, the increase is 21%. would have been 22.49% -, while for one of TUR 2 (kitchen, domestic hot water and heating) it will represent an increase of 12.69% in their annual bill with taxes - with VAT at 21% the growth would have been 23.95% -.
Meanwhile, for a TUR 3 client (SMEs), the review starting this January will mean an increase of 13.31% in their annual invoice with taxes - with VAT at 21% the growth would have been 24.64%, according to the resolution published last Friday in the Official State Gazette (BOE) with the price review for this next quarter.
In the update, the current limit of 15% has been applied to the growth in the cost of raw materials in the calculation formula to prevent a greater increase.
Since the entry into force of RD Law 17/2021, the impact of high natural gas prices on consumer bills has been considerably mitigated, with an approximate average decrease in their annual bill since the application of the average of a saving of 29.14 euros/year for an average TUR1 customer, about 103.72 euros/year for an average TUR2 customer, and about 272.28 euros/year for an average TUR3 customer.
The natural gas TUR is a regulated tariff that any consumer connected to natural gas networks with a pressure less than or equal to 4 bar and whose annual consumption is less than or equal to 50,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) can benefit from. Through Royal Decree-Law 18/2022, of October 18, its application was expanded to the communities of owners and energy service companies that provide services to them.
The TUR for natural gas is reviewed quarterly on the 1st of the months of January, April, July and October of each year, and is updated whenever the cost of the raw material included in the rate experiences a greater upward or downward variation. 2% with respect to the value used in the current rate or, in any case, when new tolls or charges come into force. Its value is made public in the BOE.
Royal Decree-Law 17/2021, of September 14, on urgent measures to mitigate the impact of the escalation of natural gas prices in the retail gas and electricity markets, limited the increase in the cost of raw materials by 15%. included in the TUR in force on January 1, 2022. This measure was extended until this next review on April 1, 2024, through article 37 of Royal Decree-Law 8/2023.
The raw material cost in this review depends on the base gas cost and the seasonal gas cost. In this review, the increase has been limited to the aforementioned 15%, up to 3.32 cents/kWh, but its increase would have been 19% compared to the current value for the new cost of gas, which based on this review would be 26 .35 euros/MWh, which represents an increase of 4.45% compared to the current rate.
This increase is caused by the rise in the price of the Brent barrel (3.44%) and the depreciation of the euro against the dollar (-1.77%) with respect to the reference periods taken for the previous resolution.
Likewise, the new cost of seasonal gas, which is included in this review, is 35.87 euros/MWh, 16.32% lower than the cost in October 2023, due to the sharp drop in gas futures prices. natural gas and its options in the NBP market.
In the case of the neighborhood TUR, created by the Government in October 2022, groups of communities of owners and the energy service companies that provide them with service, the cost of the raw material for these consumers is weighted at 30% of the value. coming from the formula of Order ITC/1660/2009, of June 22 and 70% of that resulting from Royal Decree-Law 17/2021, of September 14.
Consequently, the cost of the raw material for the local TUR is 3.36 cents/kWh, 7.59% higher than that used in the rate in force since last October 1. In this way, as of January 1, 2024, the variable term of the neighborhood TUR increases between 5.17% and 7%.
Thus, the TUR4 will rise by 5.17%, the TUR5 by 5.28%, the TUR6 by 6.12%, the TUR7 by 6.83%, the TUR8 by 6.88%, the TUR9 by 6.92%, TUR10 by 6.94% and TUR11 by 7.00%.
In October of last year, the Government approved, encouraged by the arrival of the winter storm and energy prices due to the war in Ukraine, a shield of 3,000 million euros to protect consumers of regulated gas rates from possible increases, which In practice it represents a direct subsidy to customer bills.
This caused a surge in the transfer of consumers to the regulated natural gas rate. In the case of communities of owners with community natural gas boilers covered by the new rate, this figure was not so high.
Sources from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge indicated that the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) has paid 642.2 million euros to the four marketing companies of the TUR in concept of the deficit generated until the end of September 2023, due to the 15% limitation on the increase in the cost of raw materials regulated in Royal Decree-Law 17/2021, of September 14.
