Electricity:¶
Given that renewable energy of all types is being driven mostly by electricity it seems like this might be a good place to start our conversation about renewable energy in Spain. It will also give us all some insight into why your host families are paying more attention to energy use than you might have expected.
Electric Use in Oregon:¶
Before we talk about electricity in Spain/Barcelona we would do well to connect with our usage in Oregon. The amount of energy that an average household uses in the US varies but is around 1000 kWh. Hawaii is at the low end at 550 kWh and Lousiana is at the high end with 1270 kWh. My personal usage is 2x that because my wife’s art studio for her business is essentially a second house. Here’s what our bills looked like this winter.
Our bills in Oregon have a baseline energy expectation with a surcharge for energy over that base usage. You can see that I am paying about 11 cents/kWh on this bill.
As you can see from the following bar chart for the months of the year this is not particularly out of line for the rest of the year. I agree that it is a lot of energy but it only seems fair to be transparent.
As we have talked about (perhaps) this means I am using energy at the rate of (62 kWh/day)(1 day/24 hr) = 2.6 kW. Because that’s the average you wouldn’t be surprised to see that power be 2-3 times as high during peak usage. This is an important consideration here in Spain that we don’t worry about in the US.
Electricity in Spain:¶
According to wiki people in Spain use less than half what the average American uses - around 5135 kWh/yr in 2019. This is around 400 kWh/month! Other sources suggest that the 400 kWh/month includes usage while we are at work and the typical household usage is closer to 300 kWh/month. That’s about 1/3 of a typical American household.
But the Cost! Billing for electricity is structured very differently in Spain which offers us an opportunity for some cultural exploration. What is shown below is just one of many different energy use plans. The first thing to note is that there is a base rate that depends on the rate at which you can use power. There are three tiers (< 5kW, 5-10kW, 10-15kW). Here are the various plans offered by Iberdrola (a major provider)
This contracted power is called potencia (potential) and limits the maximum rate at which you can use energy. Remember that we calculated the my house, on average uses 2.6 kW but I might easily being using 2-3 times that a certain times. Because the ‘potencia’ limits the maximum rate at which you can use power it is important to have a good sense of your peak need. In Spain you pay for the ‘potencia’ whether you use it or not. Notice that there is a different rate for ‘potencia’ during peak usage times compared to night time.
On top of the power rate you also pay for the energy you use in a similar way to the US. The difference is that there are many many providers and plans. The price of electric energy is 5-7 times higher than the base rate in the US. This means households in Spain are very sensitive to how much energy is used. To help manage costs the power companies offer many complex options depending on when you think you need more energy. Energy in the late afternoon and early evening is priced higher than energy in the middle of the night or in the morning. The particular plan shown above lets you pick any 8 hr window during the day when your rates will be less - €0.25/kWh. Outside of thata window energy will cost 30% more - €0.32/kWh. Strong encouragement to use energy during your contracted window.
Here’s an extreme example plan for folks you might have electric vehicles.
Notice that the cost of energy during the low cost time is only €0.03/kWh. Conversely the cost of energy during peak use times is €0.46/kWh - 15x higher!!
Perhaps this will help us all be more conscious of how electrical energy use in Spain is much more complex and expensive. Not surprisingly people are much more attentive to energy use as a result.
This news article, from summer 2021, talks about changes to the billing patterns for electricity which has probably influenced the plans currenlty offered.