Price of electricity today, Sunday, September 13: cheapest and most expensive hours

The “electricity market reform” in Spain is not concentrated in a single law but involves several changes being deployed in parallel. Based on what is currently on the table (Government, CNMC, and European framework), the clear next steps are grouped into four blocks: capacity market, operation of the wholesale market, consumer empowerment (including PVPC), and deployment of flexibility/storage, all aligned with the 2024 European reform.

1. Launch of the new capacity market (2026‑2036)

• MITECO launched a consultation on the order that creates a capacity market for the peninsular system, with auctions where generation, storage, and demand management will participate, remunerated for providing firm power to the system, not for energy produced (MITECO note).
• In May 2026, the European Commission authorized the mechanism, endowed with about 9 billion euros for a decade, with estimated payments of €800‑900 million/year, as an “anti-blackout mechanism” consistent with the EU market design reform (Demócrata).
• Upcoming milestones:
  • Final approval of the ministerial order and call for the first auctions (main, annual adjustment, and transitional).
  • Effective entry of the scheme in 2026 and operation for about 10 years, with reviews linked to supply security and the implementation of renewables and storage.
  • Key condition: new investments to be remunerated must be renewable, storage, or demand management, in line with the European framework.

2. Deepening the new wholesale market design

• CNMC and operators are completing the transition to a fully quarter-hourly system:
  • Since 2025, the day-ahead and intraday markets already trade 15-minute products.
  • In August 2026, CNMC approved increasing continuous intraday to 96 trading rounds, bringing the closing closer to real-time and reducing deviations, with a temporary exception until 2029 in MIBEL (CNMC and Demócrata).
• Operational procedures and balancing services (voltage control, active demand response, etc.) are also being reviewed to align with Regulation (EU) 2019/943 and the new electricity market reform regulation.
• In parallel, CNMC has opened consultations on tariff design and wholesale market aimed at strengthening demand participation and renewable integration (retail market report 2023‑24).

3. Consumer, PVPC, and long-term contracts

• 2024 European reform: the EU has approved a directive and a regulation that reform the electricity market design and promote:
  • Two-way Contracts for Difference (CfD) for public support to new renewables and nuclear.
  • A favorable framework for PPAs, requiring States to guarantee instruments to reduce financial risk (e.g., guarantee schemes) (Commission Q&A and European Parliament).
  Spain must adapt its support mechanisms (auctions, CfD, guarantees for PPAs) to this framework in the next regulatory wave.
• Regulated tariff PVPC:
  • Since 2024, PVPC is calculated with a basket of futures and spot prices to reduce volatility; exposure to the day-ahead market is progressively reduced until 2026 (Demócrata).
  • The European Commission has asked Spain to design a roadmap for the gradual elimination of PVPC, maintaining it only for vulnerable groups, considering that its widespread permanence distorts competition (Demócrata).
  • The Government, through the State Secretariat, has indicated that elimination is not currently contemplated but has committed to having the CNMC analyze the advisability of maintaining it or not in the medium term (Demócrata).
• Bills and transparency:
  • In June 2026, MITECO submits for consultation a resolution to update the minimum content of bills for small consumers, including average energy cost, contract type (fixed/indexed), contracted product, and comparison with average consumption in the postal code, as well as more detail for self-consumption and a mandatory QR code linking to the CNMC comparator (MITECO).

4. Flexibility, aggregation, and storage

• The Government is promoting an ecosystem of flexibility and aggregation:
  • Regulatory sandbox with five pilot projects of local flexibility markets, independent aggregator, and distributed storage, with tests of up to two years to feed future reforms (IDAE).
  • In August 2026, a resolution in consultation to define the methodology of the independent aggregator and allow contracting several suppliers simultaneously, modifying system operation and settlements (MITECO).
• Regarding storage, recent decrees and energy planning set targets of tens of GW by 2030 and prioritize hybridization of batteries with renewable generation, relying precisely on the new capacity market and more flexible access permits.

Overall, the coming years will be marked by (1) the effective implementation of the capacity market, (2) consolidation of the quarter-hourly regime and 96 intraday rounds, (3) redefinition of the PVPC role under European pressure, and (4) deployment of flexibility, aggregation, and storage as central pieces of the new Spanish electricity market design, consistent with the reform approved at the EU level in 2024.

The National Commission on Markets and Competition (CNMC) plays a central role in the regulated components of the electricity price and in supervising how prices are formed, but it does not freely “decide” how much electricity costs. Its powers are mainly defined by Law 3/2013, establishing the CNMC (BOE), Law 24/2013 of the Electricity Sector (BOE), and its regulatory development.

1. What the CNMC does NOT do: the “pool” price and political decisions

The hourly price of the wholesale market (the so-called “pool”) is set in the auction managed by OMIE among generators and suppliers, according to the marginal system explained in articles like “How electricity prices are set in Spain”. The CNMC does not set that price:

• It does not decide what offers power plants submit or at what price.
• It does not choose which technology “sets” the price each hour.
• It does not replace the Government’s energy policy decisions (taxes, charges, discounts, “gas cap,” etc.).

Its role there is basically supervision and control: it monitors for market manipulation or abuse of dominant position and can sanction companies (as in the case of the fine against Iberdrola for alleged price manipulation, later annulled by the National Court).

2. Direct powers over regulated components of the bill

Where the CNMC does intervene directly and with regulatory power is in the regulated components of the price, in particular:

• Methodology of network access tariffs (transport and distribution). Following Royal Decree-Law 1/2019, Law 3/2013, and Law 24/2013 assign the CNMC the function to:
  • Establish by circulars the methodology to calculate transport and distribution tariffs (e.g., Circular 3/2020, cited in the BOE BOE-A-2020-1066).
  • Define the tariff structure (voltage levels, time periods, power and energy terms, etc.).
  • Approve each year, by resolution published in the BOE, the specific tariff values applicable to consumers and generators.
• Remuneration of electricity networks (transport, distribution, and system operation):
  • Sets, by circular, the methodology and parameters for the regulated remuneration of these activities, including the financial remuneration rate (TRF).
  • For example, it approved a TRF of 6.58% for the 2026‑2031 period, as reported by Demócrata.
  • These decisions influence the level of tariffs consumers pay, although within the global cost limits set by the Government.
• Operation methodologies and procedures:
  • Develops and modifies system operation procedures (balancing services, voltage control, active demand response, etc.), impacting costs later incorporated into the final price.
  • Recent examples include resolutions on voltage control service or active demand response published in the BOE in 2025.

3. Supervision of PVPC and regulated tariffs

The Voluntary Price for Small Consumers (PVPC) and last-resort tariffs are regulated in Article 17 of the Electricity Sector Law and developed by rules such as Royal Decree 216/2014 (BOE). In this area:

• The Government establishes the general methodology for calculating PVPC and criteria for last-resort tariffs.
• The CNMC:
  • Issues reports and proposals on PVPC revision and its linkage to futures markets, at the request of the Government or the European Commission.
  • Supervises that reference suppliers correctly apply PVPC and comply with consumer information obligations.
  • Analyzes, for example, whether it makes sense to maintain PVPC in the future market design, as the Government itself has indicated by sending analyses to the CNMC.

4. Surveillance, transparency, and consumer protection functions

Besides its regulatory powers, the CNMC exercises a broad role of supervision and transparency over prices and contracts:

• Continuously supervises electricity and gas markets, according to Law 3/2013 and the European REMIT Regulation, to detect manipulations or abnormal conduct; the Government has repeatedly requested “maximum supervision” in contexts of high price volatility.
• Publishes periodic information on prices and margins, and maintains a price comparator for gas and electricity, a key tool for consumers to know and compare prices.
• Controls suppliers’ conduct in their relationship with customers (commercial practices, fixed or indexed price contracts, unilateral price increases, abusive commercial calls, etc.), issuing criteria and imposing sanctions when necessary.

5. Limits: what depends on the Government or the legislator

In summary, the CNMC:

• Does define tariff and regulated remuneration methodologies, approve specific tariffs, and monitor price formation and business conduct.
• Does not decide fundamental energy policy: the distribution among taxes, charges, and tariffs, the existence of PVPC, global system cost limits, extraordinary mechanisms (like gas caps), or social aid, which correspond to the Government and the General Courts.

Therefore, its influence on electricity price setting is very relevant in the regulated part of the bill and market oversight, but always within the legal and energy policy framework set by the legislator and the Executive.

A domestic consumer under PVPC can switch to a free market tariff quite easily: recent regulations from the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the CNMC precisely strengthen freedom of change and limit penalties. Practically, any household with a normal low-voltage electricity supply can switch if they sign a new contract with a free market supplier and give their express consent to the change.

1. Who can switch and type of supply

The regulatory framework focuses on households and SMEs with contracted power below 15 kW, which are the vast majority of domestic consumers. For this segment:

• No special power requirement is needed to switch from PVPC to free market: it is enough to be in that range up to 15 kW, typical of homes.
• It always involves low-voltage supplies, which is the usual supply type in homes.
• If the consumer had the social bonus, switching to the free market implies losing it: the new supplier must clearly inform about the expected price difference and obtain an express waiver to process the change, then notifying the CNMC.

2. Consent and documentation

According to the CNMC, supplier changes (including switching from PVPC to free market) are only valid if there is effective consumer consent. In practice, the free supplier will ask you for:

• Identification data of the holder (DNI/NIE) and contact details.
• CUPS code and supply point data, usually extracted from the current bill.
• Express authorization (signed or electronic) accepting the new contract and its economic conditions.

The regulation does not generally require being “up to date with payments” to switch, but debts with the outgoing supplier remain payable. If there are arrears leading to supply cut-off, other procedures activate (with disconnection/reconnection costs) separate from the simple tariff change.

3. Permanence and penalties

The new General Supply and Commercialization Regulation tightens rules on permanence:

• For households and SMEs with power under 15 kW, the right to terminate the contract at any time without penalty is recognized.
• Only exception: if it is a fixed-price contract and it is broken before the first annual renewal, the maximum penalty is 5 % of the energy pending to be billed that year.
• If the change is because a vulnerable consumer moves to PVPC, no penalty can be applied; conversely (leaving to the free market), the company must expressly warn about the loss of the social bonus.

Also, the regulation “prevents permanence commitments and termination penalties” beyond these limits, so switching from PVPC to the free market should not entail other additional contractual costs.

4. Technical aspects: meter, installation, and costs

Switching from PVPC to the free market is a change of contract and supplier, not of installation:

• It is not necessary to change the home's electrical installation.
• Under normal conditions, it is not necessary to change the meter either: the same distributor and meter serve both regulated and free contracts.
• The regulation does not foresee technical costs passed to the consumer for the simple supplier change, except in very exceptional cases requiring “complex field actions.”

5. Change deadlines

The Royal Decree approved in February 2026 sets that supplier changes must be completed within a maximum of 10 days from the consumer's request. The internal technical process between suppliers and distributor must be done in much shorter times, and the regulatory intention is that, from 2026, purely technical procedures do not last more than 24 hours.

6. Practical recommendations before switching

• Compare offers in the official CNMC comparator to estimate the annual cost in the free market versus PVPC.
• Read the new contract carefully: duration, whether the price is fixed or indexed, possible additional services (maintenance, insurance, etc.), and how the price will be reviewed.
• If you have a social bonus or think you might be entitled to one, carefully consider that switching to the free market makes it incompatible.

In summary, any typical domestic consumer in low voltage can switch from PVPC to a free market tariff by signing a new contract, without special technical requirements, with short deadlines and no penalties, except the limited exception of fixed-price contracts before their first annual renewal.