How to read your Spanish electricity bill

Spanish electricity bills are full of technical terms, legal references and charges that are hard to decode. This guide breaks down every section so you can understand exactly what you are paying for.

Reading the header

Your bill shows your contracted supplier, contract number (numero de contrato), your CUPS number (Codigo Unificado de Punto de Suministro) and the billing period.

The breakdown of charges

Termino de potencia - This is your fixed daily charge for the capacity you have contracted. If you have a higher potencia contracted than you actually need - most Spanish homes are over-contracted by 2-3 kW - you could save EUR60-100 per year by reducing it.

Termino de energia - This is the variable part of your bill. If you are on PVPC, this figure changes every hour. Today (21 March 2026), the average is around 10.64 cEUR/kWh, ranging from 5.76 cEUR at the cheapest hour (13:00) to 18.54 cEUR at peak.

Alquiler del contador - If you do not own your electricity meter, you pay a monthly rental fee (typically EUR0.81-1.10/month).

Impuestos - IVA (21%) and the impuesto especial sobre la electricidad (5.11%).

How to pay less

• Switch to a free-market tariff if PVPC is costing you more than fixed-rate alternatives
• Reduce your contracted potencia if your actual usage is well below your contracted maximum
• Shift heavy usage to off-peak hours if you have a time-of-use meter