The price of gas is through the roof and free market consumers – eight out of ten in Asturias – are already noticing it in their bills. Most of them, moreover, have found an announcement of a short-term change in the general conditions of the contracts. Total Energies, which in 2020 assumed the portfolio of domestic and SME customers that EDP Spain (the former Hidroeléctrica del Cantábrico) had in Asturias, will change from April 1 the way of updating gas prices quarterly. The measure, which comes amid an escalation in energy prices that has intensified with the invasion of Ukraine, affects 136,000 Asturian gas or electricity and gas customers, according to Total Energies sources.
The price of gas for these affected customers is updated quarterly in accordance with the cost of raw material (CMP), a reference calculated by the Ministry for Ecological Transition from the prices of Brent crude oil and gas, and which is published in the Official State Gazette (BOE). As of April 1, 136,000 Total Asturian customers will have a new reference for the quarterly rate update. Instead of the CMP, the update reference will be the OMIP market, which is the Iberian energy futures market. Thus, for example, to review the price of gas for the second quarter of 2022, Total will take the average of the daily prices of the OMIP market for February for the second quarter of the year and compare them with the average of the daily prices of November 2021 for the first quarter of 2022. The differential of these forecasts (they are future prices) will mark the variation in the price of gas in the second quarter of 2022.
Sources from Total Energies pointed out that using the OMIP market as a price update reference “has the advantage that it is the same as the one already used to calculate the price of electricity, which provides simplicity and transparency to a large part of our customers, that has both energies contracted with us”. They added that the new reference “reflects the particularities of the gas market in Spain”, that the services that the client will receive remain the same and that with the change the prices of the second quarter of the year will decrease by 4% with respect to the current prices. However, it must be taken into account that when calculating the price for the second quarter from the daily prices for the month of February in the futures market, the effect of the war in Ukraine is only noticeable in the prices between the 24th , when the invasion began, and on the 28th. The effect will be noticeable in the third quarter if the conflict continues.
Total Energies stated that it has informed customers by letter and email of the changes and that those who agree do not have to do anything.