Bigger discounts on electricity and gas bills for vulnerable homes

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

1. It temporarily raises the discounts of the electricity social bonus until March 31, 2022: from 25% to 60% for vulnerable consumers and from 40% to 70% for severely vulnerable consumers.
2. The minimum thermal social bonus payment goes up from 25 to 35 euros per beneficiary for 2021. Severely vulnerable consumers or those at risk of social exclusion get 60% more than a vulnerable consumer in their climate zone.
3. The 2021 budget for the thermal social bonus is increased by 100 million euros, funded by the State Secretariat for Energy, to pay for these aids.
4. Power producers and suppliers must send the CNMCCNMC Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia, the public body that oversees Spanish markets. monthly information on their forward electricity contracts, including contracts between companies in the same group. They must also publish all their available offers.
5. If an electricity or gas supplier raises prices, it must give at least one month's notice, showing prices before and after and the estimated annual cost. Gas suppliers serving consumers using under 50,000 kWh a year must publish their prices clearly and in a comparable way.
6. It clarifies which energy is excluded from the mechanism that claws back power companies' windfall profits from the gas price surge: energy covered by fixed-price forward contracts signed before the rule took effect, or with a term of one year or more. Providing false data is a very serious offense.

Who it affects

• Households with the electricity social bonus: They will get bigger discounts on their power bills until March 31, 2022.
• Thermal social bonus beneficiaries: They will receive a minimum aid of 35 euros in 2021, instead of 25 euros.
• Electricity and gas consumers: They will get more information: one month's notice of price increases and published, comparable offers.
• Electricity and gas producers and suppliers: They must give more information to the CNMC and publish their prices and offers.

Words worth knowing

Bono social eléctrico (electricity social bonus)

A discount on the electricity bill for people in a situation of vulnerability.

Bono social térmico (thermal social bonus)

Financial aid to pay for heating, hot water or cooking for those who have the social bonus.

Consumidor vulnerable severo (severely vulnerable consumer)

A person with a recognized higher degree of vulnerability, who receives a bigger discount.

CNMC

Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia, the public body that oversees Spanish markets.

Contrato a plazo (forward contract)

An agreement to buy or sell energy in the future at a price set in advance.

It summarizes the law as published in the BOE. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries