The price of electricity today, July 16: the cheapest hour will be from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The electricity price in the regulated PVPC tariff is set by combining, hour by hour, the result of the wholesale electricity market with a series of regulated components (tolls, charges, marketing costs, system services, and taxes). The “energy” part mainly depends on the day-ahead and intraday market, while the bill structure and many added concepts (tolls, charges, margin of the reference marketer, taxes) are set by state regulations. This entire methodology is mainly regulated in Law 24/2013 of the Electric Sector and Royal Decree 216/2014, developed and modified by subsequent regulations.

Basic legal framework of the PVPC

The PVPC is defined in article 17 of the Law 24/2013 of the Electric Sector as a maximum price that reference marketers can charge, formed additively by:

• Cost of electricity production (market part).
• Access tolls and system charges (regulated part).
• Marketing costs (regulated remuneration of the reference marketer).

The central regulatory development is Royal Decree 216/2014, which establishes the PVPC calculation methodology and the regime of reference marketers. This royal decree has been adjusted, among others, by Royal Decree 469/2016 (commercial margin) and by Royal Decree 148/2021 (charges and adaptation of the PVPC to the new tariff structure).

Energy component: what depends on the market

Since Royal Decree 216/2014, the production cost included in the PVPC is based on the hourly price of the day-ahead market during the billing period, instead of on forward auctions like CESUR (a mechanism that the royal decree itself explains is outdated). This means that:

• For each hour, the PVPC incorporates the day-ahead market price and, if applicable, corrections from intraday markets.
• Adjustment services and other system services (reserve, balancing services, non-frequency services, etc.) are added, which are part of the “other supply-associated costs” (OCh) regulated in article 12 of Royal Decree 216/2014, modified by Royal Decree 469/2016.

The technical detail of how these components are estimated the day before is set by operation procedure P.O. 14.12 “Estimation of the cost of PVPC components,” approved and updated by the Energy State Secretariat Resolution of June 30, 2023 (resolution of June 30, 2023). This procedure defines how the system operator calculates:

• The hourly average market price (PMD).
• Costs for adjustment services, reserves, deviations, non-frequency services, etc.
• The part of other supply-associated costs that depend on those markets.

Tolls and charges: regulated part unrelated to the market

Besides energy, each PVPC bill includes tolls and charges that do not depend on the market but on regulatory decisions:

• Transport and distribution tolls are set by the CNMC through its own methodology and are passed on to the bill via ministerial orders such as Order TEC/1366/2018 and subsequent regulations.
• Electric system charges (to finance premiums for historical renewables, deficits, etc.) are calculated according to the methodology of Royal Decree 148/2021, and their specific values are set by order, such as Order TED/1484/2021.

In the PVPC, these concepts are incorporated in the power term and the energy term, in a binomial way, with hourly discrimination according to the structure defined by the CNMC for tolls and the state methodology for charges.

Marketing costs and margin of the reference marketer

Royal Decree 216/2014, modified by Royal Decree 469/2016, establishes that the marketing costs included in the PVPC are recovered through:

• A fixed term per contracted power (CCF) added to the power term of tolls and charges.
• A variable hourly term per energy (CCVh) added to the energy term.

These costs include, among others, contracting, billing, customer service, structure, market guarantees, contributions to the National Energy Efficiency Fund, and the public road occupancy fee. The specific margin values are determined by ministerial order, such as Order ETU/1948/2016, which develops the margin methodology for 2014‑2018 following Supreme Court rulings.

Taxes and other elements

On the sum of energy (market + services), tolls, charges, and marketing costs, taxes (VAT and Special Electricity Tax) are finally applied, also regulated by state law. Although they significantly affect the final bill, their calculation is fiscal, not specific to the PVPC.

Summary of what depends on the market and what on regulation

• Depends on the market: hourly price of the day-ahead and intraday market; costs of adjustment services, reserves, and deviations; variable part of some other system operating costs.
• Depends on regulation: definition of PVPC and eligible groups (Law 24/2013 and Royal Decree 216/2014); PVPC and marketer margin methodology (Royal Decree 469/2016 and Order ETU/1948/2016); methodology and values of charges and tolls (Royal Decree 148/2021 and Order TED/1484/2021); procedure P.O. 14.12 to estimate hourly components (resolution of June 30, 2023); and applicable taxes.

Red Eléctrica de España (REE), as system operator, does not decide or “set” electricity prices (neither market nor regulated), but it does have relevant technical competencies in operational calculation, settlement, and especially in the management and dissemination of part of the information that gives rise to those prices. This function is articulated through system operation procedures and the rules of the day-ahead and intraday markets, approved by the CNMC and the State Secretariat of Energy. The strictly regulatory price elements (tolls, calculation methodologies, regulated remunerations) are attributed to the Ministry and the CNMC through ministerial orders and circulars, so REE mainly acts as a technical executor and publisher of the results.

General regulatory framework

REE’s competencies regarding information and prices are framed in three blocks of regulations:

• Rules of day-ahead and intraday markets: the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) approves and updates the rules governing the wholesale market, where hourly matching prices are determined. For example, the Resolution of May 23, 2024 by the CNMC “approves the operating rules of the day-ahead and intraday electricity markets for their adaptation to European intraday auctions.” These rules define what information must be exchanged and published, and the roles of the market and system operator.
• System operation procedures: these are REE’s technical “roadmap” as system operator. From the Resolution of October 27, 2010 (PO 3.x, 9, 14.4) to recent adaptations —such as the Resolution of January 19, 2026 or the Resolution of April 25, 2024— they are continuously updated. These POs regulate generation scheduling, adjustment services, balancing, settlements, and thus the associated economic information (payments and charges for services).
• Regulated methodologies and parameters (tolls and others): the CNMC establishes the calculation methodology for transport and distribution tolls through Circular 3/2020, later modified by Circular 1/2025. Additionally, Circular 4/2019 sets the remuneration methodology for the system operator. These rules place the CNMC and the Ministry as holders of the power to set regulated prices; REE provides data and executes but does not have normative competence.

REE’s role in market information and adjustment services

Operation procedures and resolutions on system adjustment services determine what REE must do with the information and prices resulting from system operation:

• Resolutions on operation procedures (for example, Resolution of December 18, 2015 or the aforementioned 2010 one) regulate generation scheduling, reserve activation, deviation management, and adjustment services. Implicitly, this includes calculating and communicating to agents the prices of these services and the corresponding economic balances, functions operationally assigned to the system operator.
• Recent rules, such as Resolution of October 19, 2023 (operation procedure 7.5 and modification of 14.4), reorganize services like active demand response and rights of collection and payment for adjustment services. Again, REE does not set prices for these services but manages offers, activation, amount calculation, and information made available to participants.
• Continuous adaptations to quarter-hourly negotiation and European platforms (for example, Resolution of February 28, 2025, on rules of day-ahead and intraday markets) define new obligations for data exchange and publication between market, system operator, and European platforms. REE is the technical piece that integrates and communicates Spanish electric system information with those environments.

Regulated prices (tolls) and limits of REE’s competence

Regarding access tolls and other regulated bill components, CNMC circulars set the calculation methodology, while ministerial orders determine the specific values for each year. The listed regulations (Order TEC/1366/2018, Order IET/2444/2014, etc.) show that it is ministerial orders from the Ministry of Energy/Ecological Transition that “establish” or “determine” access tolls, not the system operator.

In this area, REE’s participation is essentially technical support: providing network and demand data, applying approved tolls in its systems, and supplying necessary information for billing and supervision, but without the capacity to set or modify those prices or publish them in the BOE, responsibilities that fall to the Ministry and CNMC.

Conclusion

In summary, REE has broad competencies as technical manager and operational publisher of system operation information (demand, flows, adjustment services, associated settlements) and as a data exchange node with markets and European platforms, according to rules and procedures approved by CNMC and the Ministry. However, the legal determination of prices —both market prices (through day-ahead and intraday market rules) and regulated prices (tolls, remunerations)— corresponds to the CNMC and the Government; REE executes, calculates, and disseminates results under that framework but does not hold the competence to set them.

Access to the Voluntary Price for the Small Consumer (PVPC), that is, the regulated electricity tariff, is defined in state regulations (mainly Royal Decree 216/2014 and its amendments). Generally, only electricity supply points with low voltage, reduced power, and contracting supply with a reference marketer (not in the free market) can join. Vulnerable consumer status is not a requirement to enter PVPC, although it is (with nuances) to receive the social bonus. Below is a summary of the normative and practical criteria derived from the current regulatory framework.

1. Basic regulations governing the PVPC

The PVPC structure and its contracting regime are set in Royal Decree 216/2014, of March 28, which establishes the calculation methodology of voluntary prices for the small electricity consumer and its legal contracting regime. This royal decree has been modified, among others, by Royal Decree 469/2016, of November 18 (Royal Decree 469/2016), and complemented by various orders and resolutions, such as:

• Order ETU/1948/2016, on marketing costs of reference marketers for PVPC calculation.
• Resolutions on operation procedure 14.12 “Estimation of the cost of PVPC price components,” in 2015 (Resolution 8/6/2015) and its 2023 update (Resolution 30/6/2023).
• Contextual rules reinforcing consumer protection and affecting PVPC, such as Royal Decree-law 17/2021 and Royal Decree-law 18/2022.
• Also linked are, for example, the system charges rules in Royal Decree 148/2021.

Additionally, the immediate origin of the PVPC is in Royal Decree-law 17/2013, which determined the electricity price for contracts subject to PVPC in the first months of the current system’s operation.

2. Supply point requirements

According to this regulatory framework, the PVPC is conceived for the so-called “small electricity consumer.” The specific regulation (Royal Decree 216/2014 and successive amendments) defines, among others, the following supply point elements:

• Supply voltage: it must be a low voltage supply.
• Small contracted power: PVPC is designed for reduced powers, typical of households and small businesses. The regulation sets a maximum power threshold, but that specific value does not appear in the sources consulted here. No further numerical information is available in these sources.
• A single supply contract per point: PVPC applies to each CUPS (supply point), not to the sum of several.
• Measurement and billing: resolutions on procedure 14.12 and other technical rules regulate how price components are estimated and settled for points without hourly measurement.

In summary, it is not a tariff applicable to large industrial clients or high voltage supplies, but specifically to domestic and similar consumers.

3. Who can join the PVPC

Within the above limits, PVPC and reference marketer regulations allow joining by:

• Households and individuals with low voltage and small power contracts.
• Small businesses or self-employed whose consumption and power fit within the “small consumer” parameters of Royal Decree 216/2014.
• Homeowners’ associations (e.g., supplies for general building services) as long as the supply point meets the above technical criteria.
• Public administrations at supply points that are also low voltage and within the power threshold set for PVPC.

In all cases, an essential requirement is contracting supply with a reference marketer, that is, one of the companies designated by the State to offer PVPC. If the consumer signs a contract in the free market, they cease to be subject to PVPC.

4. Vulnerable consumer, social bonus, and PVPC

The figures of vulnerable consumer and the electric social bonus have been developed through successive royal decree-laws (including the aforementioned Royal Decree-law 17/2021 and Royal Decree-law 18/2022). To enjoy the social bonus, the general rule has been to be on PVPC with a reference marketer; that is, vulnerability is not a requirement to enter PVPC, but PVPC is usually required to receive the social bonus.

However, details of income thresholds, family situations, or types of vulnerability correspond to other specific regulations (on the social bonus) not detailed in the sources analyzed for this response.

5. How to join in practice

From a practical point of view, a consumer who meets the technical requirements (low voltage and small power) can request PVPC simply by changing their contract to the reference marketer of their choice. The marketer change follows general electric sector procedures and does not require work or physical modification of the meter, beyond what may be required for correct consumption measurement according to current operation procedures.

No further detailed information is available in the consulted sources about other specific requirements for companies, communities, or administrations beyond the general ones already described.