The price of electricity will

hit

a new all-time high this Thursday by standing at

122.76 euros per megawatt hour

in the wholesale market and will continue to hit the pockets of millions of households covered by the regulated tariff.

This is the sixth 'historical record' reached this August, overwhelming the Government and opening a growing rift between PSOE and United We Can on how to manage the electricity crisis.

The new record coincides with an investigation by the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) that concludes that several electricity marketers took advantage of the entry into force of the new hourly sections in the regulated part of the electricity bill, in the past June 1, to strain their customers an increase of up to 30% in the cost of electricity.

They did so without any transparency and only advising of the change that was going to be carried out in the regulated part of the receipt to introduce the new methodology designed by the

Ministry of Ecological Transition

and the

National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC).

The supervisory body has ordered the companies to regularize the amounts overcharged, under threat of a fine.

The events date back to last June, coinciding with the entry into force of the revolutionary rate change that introduced three hourly periods of consumption (peak, flat and valley) for millions of households. The change caused a real wave of confusion for families, with prices that could double depending on the time of consumption.

The CNMC recognizes in its first change supervision report that most of the marketers carried out the billing adaptation correctly, despite the complexity involved due to the millions of contracts managed. However, there were others that took advantage of the confusion to modify the supply contracts they had with their customers, including a 30% revaluation of the cost of energy. It is important to point out that the bill is divided into three parts: the cost of energy - agreed by company and customer in the free market or set by the wholesale market in the regulated rate -; tolls -designed by the CNMC and the Government-; and taxes, whose competence belongs entirely to the Executive.

The regulator does not give names, but indicates that these marketers are among the 25 largest in the free market, in which the company and the client agree on a price per kilowatt hour for a specific period. This price can be updated periodically to adjust it to the cost of energy in the wholesale market, but the supplier has to do it with transparency, giving advance notice of the changes and giving the consumer the possibility to break the contract without any type of penalty.

The Competition technicians have ordered the companies to cancel the rise and proceed to return the amount charged over. "In the event that these are not carried out in a diligent and adequate manner and with the necessary transparency for the consumer, the appropriate actions could be initiated in accordance with the provisions of articles 44.1.e) and 65.25 of Law 24/2013 , regarding non-compliance with the application of consumer protection measures and, with respect to the transparency adopted in the commercial practices carried out to inform the consumer in this process, "he threatened in a statement released this Wednesday.

After analyzing the 25 largest trading companies in the country, the CNMC has entered a second phase of investigation to study how the change was made among the rest of the energy companies.

Investigation of the rise of light

The entry into force of the new hourly sections in tolls has coincided with a sharp rise in the cost of energy in the wholesale market, which is moving this August at record levels.

Precisely, Más País-Equo and Compromís, together with Nueva Canarias, have proposed in Congress to create an investigation commission on the price of electricity to clarify the causes of the historical highs of the last week, to find out if the electricity companies are manipulating the prices and propose measures, reports Europa Press.

The Compromís deputy in Congress,

Joan Baldoví,

regretted at a press conference that the price of electricity is making news "every other day" and has criticized the solutions proposed by the different political parties that he has described. of "magical realism", referring specifically to the Popular Party's proposal to "lower the price of electricity at the expense of charging it to the budget."

Baldoví, who has been accompanied by the Equo deputy,

Inés Sabanés,

has stressed that this commission of inquiry is needed "urgently" to find out whether "large companies manipulate prices" and have a "diagnosis of the electrical system."

"This commission looks for solutions, to put a little light in a very dark market", has declared.

Likewise, he has invited "those who know" to listen to "experts" who are part of the electricity market to see "what can be done to lower the price of electricity that affects both individuals and companies ", he stressed.

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