Two out of 10 homes have more electric power than they need

TWO out of 10 homes in Spain have more contracted electric power than they actually need. As a consequence, their electricity bills are much higher. According to the Spanish Electric Network (REE), the power contracted by the majority of the consumers is 175,000 megawatts, whereas the average capacity held by the electricity network in Spain is 108,000 megawatts.

The difference between the contracted power and the actual consumption is around €7 billion. That’s what Spaniards pay for the electricity they do not use.

In fact, a study by Mirubee’s electricity webpage shows that more than 3.6 million houses —two out of 10— in Spain have hired more electric power than they need. An average family usually consumes 1.1 extra kilowatts in their house. If each of these families reduced their power, they could save around €52 per year.  

According to specialists, it is easy to know whether the contracted power is enough or not and if there is enough of a margin to adjust it. There are mobile apps for calculating the power that a house should have and some electric energy companies also offer simulators on their own websites.