Electricity bills will not go down for families, maybe for industries

As explained by Eloy Álvarez Pelegry, from the Instituto Vasco de Competitividad, “the markets are efficient, although you do have to distinguish between the markets in the short and long term”. But the price of the energy bill is not only paid according to the market. In each market appear the so-called tolls, where the cost of both energy infrastructures and certain premiums are passed on, and that, recalled Eloy Álvarez, ends up contributing to “the energy bill is high.”

“The bill is high for families, but also extraordinarily expensive for businesses” remarked María Teresa Estevan Bolea, dean of the College of Industrial Engineers of Madrid. “Between 40 and 60% of the bill are taxes, we cannot sustain it”, she affirms, “the basic industry of Asturias cannot pay these costs.”.

Even the engineer recalled some of the names and surnames of those responsible for the increase in the energy bills, such as the 9,500 euros which, in 2013, were destined to pay the premiums for the renewable energies, a figure that, in 2014, was 7,200. “We cannot continue like this, above all the industry,” concluded Estevan.

The industrial engineer and economist Juan Avilés Trigueros also censured subsidies for renewables. “Large projects cannot be subsidized a priori. Those pre-industrial facilities or those that are in an experimental phase should be supported,” he said.

One of the possibilities to reduce this part of the energy bill is to transfer these costs to the General State Budget, as Álvarez Pelegry proposed.

It’s a solution which, as María Teresa Estevan recalled, Germany has already used without having problems with the European Commission, “because it is totally at the service of Germany, and that cannot be.” However, Estevan Bolea warned of the risks involved in the European Commission’s interest in assuming responsibility for energy policies. “They do not have the competences and want to address it. To do this, they use crazy legislation on the Environment, which is not complied with, and on Competition, which are not complied with either. Let's see if we put some order in the EU."‎

Their proposal to order the situation goes through a “total” reform of the Electricity Sector Law, “which is financial engineering, when electricity is technology and technique. Those patches are the ones that need to be changed.” In this way, the industry would see its energy bill reduced, although, maybe, individuals would not.

The creation of a hypothetical European energy market could support a way to make prices better. “The challenge, more than in electricity, is found in the oil markets,” comments Álvarez Pelegry. The solution to energy tolls will not involve a reduction in the energy bill. And it is that energy sources are increasingly scarce, which, in an efficient market, will imply a rise in prices.

The end of oil

Juan Avilés Trigueros pointed out that the oil reserves, “with the serious data that is published,” range between 40 and 50 years; gas for 50 or 60 years. And there is still coal capacity for 100 or 120 years. “There may be silence deposits, but I don’t think they will exceed 10%,” he says.

Therefore, it is time to find an answer where, in Juan Avilés opinion, renewable energies do not appear. “Their capacity of production does not cover the demand; nuclear energy must be referred to,” he says. “Renewable energies are in a very primary phase in respect to others. They need technology. Wind turbines, with their masts, how will we do it: make them taller to have bigger propellers to generate more? But in the end, the installation will cost more than what they produce. And solar companies must resolve the problem of concentration of ultra violet rays and infrared light in large installations,” he says.

The shortage of combustibles will provoke geopolitical tensions in the world. “The selection of supplies is a reality. In 2030 the problems will start. Before this year, we need to have sustainable, clean, and cheap energy. Today, only nuclear energy gives this.” Before this future, Avilés demands a “new serious energy plan.”.