Two days ago we saw how we can control the electrical energy that we are consuming in real time from home and thus avoid scares in the electricity bill. But together with responsible consumption, we can also minimize the impact on your pocket decreasing the contracted power if we see that it is not necessary for us. And we can see the power easily from the Internet.
In the same way that we can access electricity consumption in real time via the Internet, we can know in a graphical and very visual way the evolution of this part of what we consume from month to month. In this way we can check if we are too far from the contracted power and, since this section is a fixed that varies depending on whether it is more or less high, we can adjust this power to our real need.
Internet, the ally to save on the bill
Power is one of the concepts by which we have to pay an amount on the electricity bill. It is an amount that is always present, but that increases or decreases in relation to the greater or lesser power that we have contracted.
As they clarify from the page of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, the power term “is a fixed price that is calculated by multiplying the contracted power, by the days that the invoice includes and by the power term of the PVPC price that the Ministry of Energy, Tourism and Digital Agenda establishes “.
When we contract our rate with the distributor, we establish an approximate power that allows us have a series of devices plugged in at the same time without us having power outages.
Let’s imagine that we are going to have a washing machine, oven and vitro operating at the same time … elements to which we add other fixed elements such as a refrigerator, air conditioning, lighting, television … Depending on the consumption of each of them, we carry out a simple account and we hire a certain power.
The power term is a fixed that It must be paid even if there is no electricity consumption and that is why it is important to adjust it to the actual consumption. The less power contracted, the less I spend each month. This figure that appears on our invoice, normally in the section Contract data or invoice detail, It is the result of the price paid for the power and multiplied by the amount of kW contracted.
In this sense, contracted power can be lowered, but taking into account that we will have less kW and we must warn that it is important not to fall short so as not to be “two candles” at the most inopportune moment. In addition, the distributor only allows one power change per year, so you have to take great care of the figures.
If we decide to lower the power, the change is immediately reflected in our bill. A change that can mean a saving of about 5 euros per month per section downloaded (later we will see that there are sections) which translates to about 60 euros a year.
Adjust the contracted power via web and app
For this reason and the same thing that we saw when it came to knowing the consumption in real time, we can adjust the power. The same website of the distributor offers information in the form of a history on the power that we have been spending month by month as a ceiling.
It is a section that may vary depending on the distributor that we have contracted. In my case it is Endesa, it is the section “Consult the maximum power demanded”. At this point it offers information in the form of a graph with the highest power that we have demanded each month.
In my case, I have contracted 4,600 kW and the graph shows how the maximum value demanded has been 3,976kW on 02/16/2021 at 4:45 p.m. If I wanted to save a few euros, it would be enough to adjust the power that I have contracted.
It must be taken into account that the contracted power can be raised or lowered in multiples of 0.1 kW and depending on the ascent or descent we will change or not the section. In addition, and as detailed on the Endesa website, your distribution company will charge fixed amounts for the process:
- About 11 euros for lowering the power under the concept of “hitch rights” and no matter how much you lower the power.
- About 45 euros for every kW that you increase the power under the concept of “extension and access rights”, and as the previous one will be reflected in the following invoice.
- Depending on your distributor, they could charge you for other procedures or deposits.
These same calculations can be done with the appropriate mobile application of each distributor. The interface can change from one to another, but as you can see, it does not represent much difficulty since the search terms leave no room for doubt.
As in the case of the web version, we can set the dates on which we want it to show us the consumption made. The margin by which we move will be higher or lower depending on when we have registered the contract.
The data that you will need to know
In this sense, the Government has published in the BOE a list with the normalized powers, the aforementioned sections. Dated in 2006, they are still valid in 2021, but if we have not made any changes to the installation and it already has time, our house will still be governed by the old sections.
The normal, if we decide to lower the contracted power, is that the distributor asks us for a series of documents that should be on hand.
- Data to raise or lower the contracted power:
- Name, surname and ID of the contract holder.
- Current electrical power.
- New electrical power.
- Universal Supply Point Code (CUPS).
- Electric Bulletin.
When it comes to hiring power, the usual thing in most homes is for it to be around 3.45kW minimum in order to prevent the ICP from jumping easily. The minimum power is usually 2.3 kW and the maximum is between 10kW and 15kW. The most common are 2.3kW, 3.4kW, 4.6kW and 5.75kW.