Price of electricity today, October 15: the most expensive hour will be from 20:00 to 21:00 and the cheapest from 14:00 to 15:00

The daily setting of the electricity price in Spain does not depend on a single regulation but on a block of European and national regulations that articulate: the daily and intraday wholesale market (pool), the role of OMIE and REE, and how that price is passed on to consumers in PVPC and in the free market.

1. European framework of the internal electricity market

• Regulation (EU) 2019/943 on the internal electricity market: establishes the principles of price formation in European wholesale markets, market coupling, and the obligations of system and market operators. Recent Spanish regulations (for example, the Resolution of July 7, 2025, on lost load value and reliability standard) are issued “in accordance” with this regulation.
• Regulation (EU) 2015/1222 (capacity allocation and congestion management guideline): sets the rules for daily and intraday single coupling and congestion management. In Spain, it is applied, among others, through the CNMC Resolution of October 10, 2019, which adapts the rules of the daily and intraday markets “to the advancement of the continuous intraday market opening [...] in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2015/1222” (BOE-A-2019-15049).
• Regulation (EU) 2017/2195 (electricity balancing guideline): regulates how supply-demand balance is maintained and how imbalances are settled; in Spain, it is applied via CNMC resolutions on operation procedures and balancing conditions (for example, the Resolution of May 20, 2021, BOE-A-2021-9171).

2. Basic Spanish framework of the sector and wholesale market

• Law 24/2013, of December 26, on the Electricity Sector (BOE-A-2013-13645): is the basic law. It defines the market model, separation of activities, the competencies of the regulator (CNMC) and the Ministry, and the existence of the production market where, through daily and intraday auctions, the marginal wholesale price is formed.
• Royal Decree 2019/1997, of December 26, which organizes and regulates the electricity production market (BOE-A-1997-27817): develops the design of the wholesale market (agents, offers, matching, settlement). It has been amended numerous times but remains the backbone of the organization of the daily and intraday market in Spain.
• CNMC Circular 3/2019, of November 20, on wholesale market methodologies and system operation (BOE-A-2019-17287): updates and systematizes the methodologies for the operation of the daily, intraday market and balancing services, aligning them with European law. It is a key current piece because it specifies how hourly prices are formed in the pool and how system operation is coordinated.
• Operating rules of the daily and intraday market (OMIE): approved and updated by resolutions of the Secretary of State for Energy and, more recently, the CNMC. Among the most relevant current ones:
  • CNMC Resolution of February 23, 2023, approving rules to adapt the market to the economic regime of renewables (BOE-A-2023-5582).
  • CNMC Resolution of May 23, 2024, adapting the rules to European intraday auctions and repealing the 2023 resolution (BOE-A-2024-11958).
  • CNMC Resolution of February 28, 2025, adapting the rules to quarter-hourly negotiation and new offer types (BOE-A-2025-4908).
  These rules are the “operational manual” of OMIE: they set how offers are submitted, how they are matched by intervals (hour or quarter-hour), and how the daily/intraday marginal price is obtained.
• System operation procedures (REE): regulate how the system operator schedules, adjusts, and balances the electrical system. Among others, the CNMC Resolution of March 17, 2022, approves procedures adapted to quarter-hourly scheduling (BOE-A-2022-4969). Although they do not directly set the pool price, they condition its calculation (technical constraints, reserves, balancing services).
• Royal Decree 88/2026, of February 11, approving the General Regulation on supply, commercialization, and aggregation of electricity (BOE-A-2026-3212): organizes commercialization activity (including aggregators) and supply to end customers. It defines how offers to consumers are configured and how the wholesale market result is passed on to contractual conditions, especially in the free market.

3. Specific regulations for PVPC (regulated consumer)

• Royal Decree 216/2014, of March 28, establishing the calculation methodology for the voluntary prices for small consumers (PVPC) and its contracting regime (BOE-A-2014-3376): sets how PVPC is constructed from:
  • The hourly price of the daily and intraday market.
  • Balancing services and imbalances.
  • Tariffs, charges, and other regulated costs.
  It has been amended, among others, by Royal Decree 469/2016 (BOE-A-2016-11094) and Royal Decree 446/2023, which indexes PVPC to forward market signals to reduce its volatility (BOE 14-6-2023).
• Operation procedure 14.12 “Estimation of the cost of PVPC components”: developed by resolutions of June 8, 2015 (BOE-A-2015-6647) and June 30, 2023 (BOE-A-2023-15276), specifies how the different components that, starting from the pool price, make up the final PVPC paid by the consumer under this tariff are calculated daily.
• Royal decree-laws on urgent price measures (RDL 17/2021, 23/2021, 10/2022, 8/2023, among others): introduce temporary mechanisms (gas adjustment, windfall profit cuts, tax adjustments, etc.) to reduce or modulate the final price borne by consumers, indirectly affecting the formation and impact of the daily price.

4. Consumers in the free market

For consumers in the free market, the final price is contractually agreed with the retailer. There is no single regulated formula, but:

• Contracting and supply conditions are governed by Law 24/2013 and Royal Decree 88/2026, which set rights and obligations of retailers and customers, offer transparency, and market indexing modalities.
• Most indexed contracts take as reference the hourly price resulting from the daily and intraday market regulated by the described regulatory block (RD 2019/1997, Circular 3/2019, and OMIE and REE rules/POs).

In summary, the daily electricity price in Spain emerges from the combination of European internal market regulations, Law 24/2013, wholesale market regulation (RD 2019/1997, Circular 3/2019, and OMIE/REE rules), and, for the regulated consumer, the specific PVPC methodology set by RD 216/2014 and its subsequent developments.

The National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC) is the independent regulator that oversees the functioning of the Spanish electricity system. It acts according to Law 3/2013, creating the CNMC, Law 24/2013, on the Electricity Sector, and European energy regulations, especially REMIT and regulations on the internal electricity market. Its competencies combine regulatory functions, economic supervision, and competition defense, with a strong consumer protection component.

1. Economic regulation and supervision of the electricity market

In the electricity field, the CNMC has specific functions to guarantee an efficient, transparent, and sustainable economic framework:

• Methodologies and network tariffs: establishes, through circulars, the structure and methodology to calculate access tariffs to transmission and distribution networks, as well as the methodology for network remuneration (unit values of investment, operation and maintenance, regulatory useful life, and financial remuneration rate for transmission and distribution), in accordance with Law 24/2013 and energy policy guidelines.
• Wholesale market operation: sets methodologies regulating the daily and intraday market and system operation management, including balancing services and other adjustment services. An example is Circular 3/2019 on the wholesale market and system operation, or resolutions modifying operation procedures (PO 3.1, 3.2, 7.2, 7.5, 9.1, 14.4, etc.) to adapt market design and technical services to system and renewables needs.
• Access and connection to networks: develops conditions and criteria for access and connection of generation, storage, and consumption to transmission and distribution networks, including capacity assessment, applying Law 24/2013 and the European framework. This fully affects Red Eléctrica (REE) as the transmission system operator and distributors.
• Integrity and transparency of the wholesale market: under Regulation (EU) 1227/2011 (REMIT), supervises the integrity and transparency of electricity wholesale markets to detect insider trading and market manipulation.

2. Competition defense and economic control

Besides its sectoral regulatory role, the CNMC is the national competition authority and applies this function to the electricity sector:

• Investigates and sanctions cartels, abuse of dominant position, and restrictive practices in generation, distribution, commercialization, or related services (for example, competition restrictions in meters or access to certain services).
• Controls business concentration operations (mergers, acquisitions) that may reduce competition in the electricity market.
• Supervises the figure of main and dominant operators in electricity: limits on cross-shareholdings, additional obligations, and control of their market behavior.
• Can impose significant fines and order corrective measures when detecting conduct contrary to competition or proper system functioning (for example, price manipulation in intraday markets or serious breaches of regulated obligations).

3. Consumers, transparency, and quality of service

The CNMC has a direct role in how electricity reaches homes and businesses:

• Supervises customer service and commercial practices of retailers (commercial calls, remote contracting, market-indexed offers, etc.), ensuring information is clear, truthful, and sufficient, and that consumer consent is properly accredited.
• Monitors prices and supply conditions in the retail market (both free and regulated) and the dynamics of retailer switching, to ensure effective competition and that consumers can change companies without unjustified obstacles.
• Manages and supervises essential information systems (such as supply point databases) and promotes tools that allow offer comparison and improve bill transparency.
• Participates in the settlement of regulated costs of the electricity system, including certain remunerations to renewables, cogeneration, and waste, and in the guarantees of origin and electricity labeling system.

4. Institutional cooperation and European scope

The CNMC’s competencies in electricity are exercised in close coordination with other authorities:

• Cooperates with the Ministry for Ecological Transition and other ministries in monitoring energy markets, sending periodic information on prices and margins, and informing on regulatory projects affecting the electricity sector.
• Maintains operational coordination with REE as system operator and with OMIE as market operator, reviewing operation procedures, voltage control services, or active demand response, and adapting regulation to system needs.
• At the European level, acts as national regulatory authority in regulatory cooperation forums and before the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER), participating in common methodologies for the internal electricity market.

Altogether, these competencies make the CNMC the key piece for the Spanish electricity market to function competitively, transparently, and aligned with supply security, energy transition, and consumer protection objectives.

To access a regulated electricity tariff like the Voluntary Price for the Small Consumer (PVPC), a series of objective requirements must be met regarding the type of customer, the supply point, and the chosen retailer. From there, the social bonus adds additional income and family or social situation conditions.

1. Who can opt for PVPC

• Contract holder: must be the holder of the supply point.
• Natural persons or microenterprises:
  • Natural persons (domestic consumers) can contract PVPC for their home.
  • Microenterprises (according to the definition in Regulation (EU) 651/2014) can also opt for it, provided they responsibly declare so to the reference retailer and continue to meet power and voltage limits.
• Low voltage supply: the supply point must be at low voltage, i.e., at voltages not exceeding 1 kV.
• Contracted power limit: the contracted power must be less than or equal to 10 kW in each of the power time periods. If this threshold is exceeded, PVPC cannot be applied.

These requirements are common for both households and small businesses or self-employed persons who want to opt for PVPC at their premises, as long as they fit the microenterprise category.

2. Retailer and contract type

• PVPC is only offered by Reference Retailers (COR), designated by the Government. If you want PVPC, you must contract with one of them; no free market retailer can offer it.
• You are considered under PVPC when:
  • You meet the above requirements, and
  • You have formalized a supply contract with a Reference Retailer and have not expressly chosen another modality (e.g., a fixed annual price offer).
• The PVPC contract is generally annual with automatic renewals, although you can change retailer or modality without penalty at any time.
• Usually, the consumer contracts supply and access tariffs jointly with the Reference Retailer, who handles dealings with the distributor.

3. Meter and consumption measurement

• To apply PVPC, regulations foresee:
  • Billing with actual readings and consumption profiles if there is no effective remote management.
  • Billing by actual hours consumed when the supply point has a meter with telemeasurement and fully integrated remote management in the distributor’s systems.
• Today, in practice, most domestic supplies already have remotely managed digital meters, allowing PVPC to directly reflect the hourly market price.

4. Homeowners’ associations, self-employed, and companies

• Homeowners’ associations:
  • Can opt for PVPC for common supplies (staircase, garage, etc.) only if they meet the general requirements: low voltage and ≤ 10 kW per period.
  • These contracts do not entitle to the social bonus, which is only associated with the habitual residence of natural persons.
• Self-employed and small businesses:
  • If the supply point meets voltage and power limits, and the holder is a microenterprise, they can contract PVPC with a Reference Retailer.
  • Again, the social bonus only applies when the supply is the habitual residence of a natural person, not a business premises.

5. Vulnerable consumer and social bonus

The social bonus is a discount on the regulated bill and requires, besides being on PVPC, meeting certain socioeconomic criteria:

• Being a natural person holder of a supply point in their habitual residence, with power ≤ 10 kW and PVPC tariff.
• Meeting certain income thresholds depending on the size and composition of the household unit (referenced to IPREM) or belonging to protected groups:
  • Large families.
  • Pensioners receiving the minimum pension without other significant income.
  • Persons or household units benefiting from the Minimum Living Income.
• Regulations foresee categories of vulnerable, severely vulnerable, and at risk of social exclusion, with stricter income requirements and greater protection against supply cuts.

In summary, to access PVPC it is enough to be a natural person or microenterprise with a low voltage supply and contracted power up to 10 kW with a Reference Retailer. If you also want to benefit from the social bonus, the contract must correspond to your habitual residence and you must prove that you meet the income requirements or belong to certain protected groups.