Price of electricity today, August 11: the cheapest hour will be at 15:00 and the most expensive at 21:00

Modifying the Voluntary Price for the Small Consumer (PVPC) system can be done through two main regulatory routes: changing the law that enables it or reforming its regulatory development. If the intention is to alter structural elements defined at the law level (for example, who can join, the "maximum price" nature, the very existence of the PVPC), full parliamentary procedures on a legislative initiative (bill or private member's bill, or the validation and possible processing as a bill of a royal decree-law) are required. In contrast, technical adjustments to the calculation methodology can be made by government royal decree, without direct intervention from the Cortes. Below, I detail the parliamentary steps when it is necessary to modify the "law" part of the PVPC system.

1. Regulatory framework of the PVPC and what "law rank" means

The PVPC is primarily based on Law 24/2013, of the Electricity Sector, which grants the Government the authority to set the "voluntary price for the small consumer" as the maximum supply price (see Law 24/2013). This law defines the figure of reference suppliers and the logic of voluntary prices and last resort tariffs.

On this legal basis, the Government developed the system through Royal Decree 216/2014, which establishes the PVPC structure and the calculation methodology of its energy component (Royal Decree 216/2014). This royal decree has been amended by regulations such as Royal Decree 469/2016 and Royal Decree 148/2021, and recently by Royal Decree 446/2023 (not fully reproduced in the sources).

The PVPC also connects with the regulation of vulnerable consumers and the social bonus of Royal Decree 897/2017, and with ad hoc measures adopted by royal decree-laws, such as Royal Decree-law 17/2013 (price for the first quarter of 2014) or Royal Decree-law 18/2022. The more technical aspect is completed with resolutions on the operation procedure P.O. 14.12, for example the 2015 resolution (2015 resolution) and its 2023 update (2023 resolution).

In summary: what is in Law 24/2013 or in subsequent royal decree-laws has law rank and can only be changed with parliamentary intervention; what is in royal decrees and orders can be adjusted by the Government without specific legislative procedure.

2. Ordinary route: Government bill

If the Government wants to reform the PVPC in aspects that require modifying Law 24/2013 (for example, legally redefining who can join or the very concept of voluntary price), it would follow these parliamentary steps:

• Approval in the Council of Ministers: A preliminary draft is approved and submitted as a bill to the Congress, after pre-legislative (non-parliamentary) reports and consultations.
• Submission to Congress: The bill is registered and published in the Official Bulletin of the Cortes. A period for total amendments with alternative texts opens and, if any, it is debated in Plenary.
• Processing in committee: Once total amendments are overcome (or none presented), the text goes to committee, where a working group negotiates and drafts a report incorporating partial amendments. The committee approves a report.
• Congress Plenary: The report is debated and voted article by article (or in blocks) and as a whole. If approved, the text is sent to the Senate.
• Processing in the Senate: The Senate can approve, amend, or veto. If it introduces amendments, the text returns to Congress for a final vote; if it vetoes, Congress can override it by absolute or simple majority (after two months).
• Sanction and promulgation: Once definitively approved by the General Courts, the law is sanctioned by the King and published in the BOE.

3. Alternative parliamentary route: private member's bill

Parliamentary groups, the Senate, or an autonomous assembly can promote a private member's bill to reform Law 24/2013 and thus the PVPC. The parliamentary procedure is very similar to that of a government bill (Congress → committee → plenary → Senate → Congress), with two nuances:

• There is a consideration debate in the Congress Plenary, which decides whether to start processing or not.
• The Government can oppose its processing if it affects the current budget, which can block it.

4. Urgency route: royal decree-law

In situations of "extraordinary and urgent need," the Government can immediately modify the legal framework of the PVPC through a royal decree-law (as it has done with other energy measures, for example in Royal Decree-law 15/2018 or Royal Decree-law 18/2022):

• It is approved by the Council of Ministers and comes into force upon publication in the BOE.
• The Congress must validate it within a maximum of 30 days, in a single debate and vote.
• In that same act, Congress can agree to its processing as a bill by the urgency procedure, opening then the cycle of amendments, committee, Plenary, and Senate, to "review" and eventually modify the initial text.

In all cases, if the reform only affects the internal methodology of the PVPC (for example, price indexing formulas or cost components) and fits within the authorizations already contained in Law 24/2013, it would suffice to modify Royal Decree 216/2014 or the operation resolutions, which is done within the Government's scope without specific parliamentary procedures, although with general political control in the Cortes.

The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) does not currently set "all" the electricity tariff, but it does have a central role in a key part: the system charges and other regulated costs, as well as in the configuration of the voluntary prices for the small consumer (PVPC). The transport and distribution tolls are in the hands of the National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC), although following energy policy guidelines set by the Government and the Ministry. All this is mainly articulated through the Electricity Sector Law and Royal Decree-law 1/2019, which reorganized competencies among the Government, MITECO, and CNMC.

1. Basic legal framework

Law 24/2013, of the Electricity Sector sets the main principles: it distinguishes between tolls (to remunerate transport and distribution networks) and charges (for the rest of the system's regulated costs). It also introduces the principle of economic and financial sustainability of the system and provides for automatic revision of tolls and charges if imbalances appear, which conditions the Ministry's actions.

Royal Decree-law 1/2019 adapts the system to European directives and redistributes competencies: it strengthens the CNMC's independence and specifies what corresponds to the Government/MITECO and what to the regulator regarding tolls, charges, and remuneration methodologies.

2. System charges: what the Ministry does

According to Royal Decree 148/2021, which develops the final provision three of RDL 1/2019, it is established that:

• The General State Administration regulates the structure of the charges and those necessary to cover other system costs.
• The Government, after a report from the CNMC, sets by royal decree the structure and calculation methodology of the charges.
• The head of MITECO, after agreement of the Government's Delegated Commission for Economic Affairs, annually approves the charges by ministerial order.

On this basis, each year the Ministry approves the orders that set the specific prices of the charges and other regulated costs, such as Order TED/113/2024 or the most recent charge orders for 2025 and 2026. In these orders, the Ministry specifies, within the methodology set by the Government in Royal Decree 148/2021, how much each type of consumer pays as charges.

3. Transport and distribution tolls: limited role of the Ministry

Regarding tolls, Royal Decree-law 1/2019 and CNMC Circular 3/2020 (expressly mentioned in RD 148/2021) transfer to the CNMC functions previously exercised by the Government:

• The CNMC establishes by circular the calculation methodology of transport and distribution tolls and subsequently approves the specific toll values by resolution (for example, the Resolution of March 18, 2021, on tolls from June 1, 2021, or the annual resolutions on 2024 and 2025 tolls cited in the references).
• MITECO no longer sets these tolls but can influence regulation through energy policy guidelines and via the cooperation mechanism provided in RDL 1/2019 (cooperation commission, reports on compliance with guidelines, etc.).

In other words, the Ministry has stopped directly "signing" the tolls but retains the capacity to set the underlying energy policy that the CNMC must consider when designing methodologies and tolls.

4. PVPC and reference suppliers

Regarding the Voluntary Price for the Small Consumer (PVPC), the basic scheme comes from Royal Decree 216/2014:

• Article 17.4 of Law 24/2013, developed by this royal decree, establishes that the Government sets the PVPC calculation methodology and last resort tariffs.
• By ministerial order (previously the Minister of Industry, now the Minister for Ecological Transition), the necessary provisions are issued for the effective establishment of these prices.

Additionally, RD 216/2014 regulates the legal regime of reference suppliers and foresees that their designation is made by ministerial resolution, after a report from the CNMC. Again, the CNMC supervises and monitors, but the Ministry retains powers of regulatory development and designation.

5. Price information and other instruments

MITECO also has tools to know and supervise how prices are passed on to consumers. Order TED/456/2021 obliges companies to submit periodic and detailed information on prices applied to final electricity consumers. This information serves the Ministry to evaluate the impact of charges, PVPC, and other regulated components on the bill.

6. In summary: current division of functions

• MITECO: proposes to the Government charge methodologies, develops Law 24/2013 by regulation, annually approves charges and other regulated costs via order, issues orders on price information, and participates in defining the PVPC and designating reference suppliers.
• Government in Council of Ministers: approves by royal decree the methodology and structure of charges and PVPC, within the framework of Law 24/2013.
• CNMC: sets methodologies and values of transport and distribution tolls, remuneration methodologies for networks and system operator, and supervises market functioning and application of regulated prices.

The PVPC (Voluntary Price for the Small Consumer) is the regulated electricity price set by the Government and offered exclusively by reference suppliers. According to state regulations, only certain small consumers connected at low voltage and with limited power can join. The law defines quite precisely who can contract PVPC, but it does not exhaustively detail the specific documentation the consumer must provide, which is channeled through the contract with the reference supplier. Below is a summary of the legal requirements and what can be inferred about the procedure.

Basic regulatory framework

The main references to PVPC in state regulations are:

• Law 24/2013, of the Electricity Sector, which introduces PVPC as the maximum reference price for small consumers: Law 24/2013.
• Royal Decree 216/2014, which establishes the PVPC calculation methodology and its contracting regime, applicable to small consumers at low voltage: Royal Decree 216/2014.
• Subsequent amendments and developments, such as Royal Decree 469/2016, Royal Decree 184/2022 (which partially repeals RD 216/2014), Order TED/1484/2021, Order ETU/1948/2016, Resolution 8.6.2015 (PO 14.12), Resolution 8.6.2015 (PO 14.4), Resolution 7.11.2019, and Resolution 30.6.2023.
• Consumer protection measures affecting those on PVPC, such as Royal Decree-law 18/2022, Royal Decree-law 10/2022, Royal Decree-law 17/2013, Resolution 31.1.2014, and Resolution 30.12.2013.
• Other sector context regulations, such as Royal Decree 738/2015 or Royal Decree 1106/2020.

Requirements to join the PVPC

1. Type of consumer and power

Law 24/2013 defines PVPC as the maximum reference price at which consumers with less than a certain contracted power who decide to join this modality instead of the free market can contract. Royal Decree 216/2014 specifies that voluntary prices for the small consumer apply to low voltage consumers with contracted power up to 10 kW.

In practice, this includes:

• Domestic consumers (individuals) with low voltage supply and power ≤ 10 kW.
• Small non-domestic consumers (small shops, offices, etc.) also at low voltage and with power ≤ 10 kW, if they opt for PVPC.

2. Reference supplier

Another essential condition is that the contract must be signed with a reference supplier, figures regulated by Royal Decree 216/2014, which sets the criteria for their designation and the obligation to supply consumers entitled to PVPC. Only these suppliers can offer PVPC; other suppliers operate in the free market.

3. Relation with the social bonus

Royal Decree-law 18/2022 recalls that, to access the electric social bonus, vulnerable consumers must have previously contracted supply at the voluntary price for the small consumer. Additionally, this same royal decree creates a temporary category of vulnerable consumer whose access criterion includes being holder of a supply point under PVPC in their habitual residence.

Necessary documentation: what the regulation says (and does not say)

The rules regulating PVPC focus on:

• Defining who can join (small consumers at low voltage with power ≤ 10 kW).
• Setting the price calculation methodology and bill structure.
• Regulating the obligations of reference suppliers and minimum contract conditions.

However, in the consulted texts (Royal Decree 216/2014 and related rules) there is no closed list of documents that the consumer must provide (for example, specific photocopies, standardized forms, etc.). The regulation refers to the formalization of the supply contract with the reference supplier, which must respect consumer rights established in Law 24/2013 and general contracting regulations, but without expressly enumerating the documentation.

Consequently, from a strictly regulatory point of view and with the information available in official sources, it can only be stated with certainty that:

• The consumer must meet the objective conditions (low voltage, power ≤ 10 kW, right to PVPC) and formally request the contract from a reference supplier.
• The specific documentation to be presented is handled through the internal procedure of each reference supplier, within the general consumer protection framework.
• There is no further information in the consulted sources about a detailed list of documents required from the consumer.

Therefore, anyone wishing to join the PVPC must verify that their supply meets the legal requirements (low voltage and contracted power ≤ 10 kW) and process the contract with a reference supplier, following the conditions and forms provided by them, without the PVPC regulation itself establishing a closed catalog of documentation to be submitted.