EDP Universal Service will lower tariffs by 0.2% in 2018, a price cut that will benefit "about 1.2 million domestic customers" from the regulated electricity market.
In a statement today, EDP Universal Service indicates that "this update will take effect on January 1, 2018", in compliance with the Regulatory Entity of the Energy Sector, which defines the tariffs applied each year.
EDP Universal Service already has begun informing customers of this tariff reduction and recalled that, as of January 1st, "customers who are in the liberalised market can, if they wish, opt for regulated or equivalent tariffs."
EDP Comercial, meanwhile, has indicated that it will increase the price of its electricity by 2.5% in 2018, due to what it claims is a 24% increase in the wholesale energy price in the last year.
Speaking to Lusa, the president of the company, Miguel Stilwell de Andrade, said that the free market energy supplier, EDP Group, "sought to privilege households with higher consumption" with a simple tariff, which will have a reduction in the consumption component and an increase in power, which allows, on the whole, "a tariff equal to or slightly below" that regulated.
"The important thing is to look at the two things in order to compare," said the EDP group administrator, noting that the variable component - which will come down - represents about 75% of the invoice.
In the case of the bi-hourly tariff, EDP Comercial's prices will be between 1% and 3% higher than those charged to consumers who still have a regulated tariff, "Effectively in the case of the bi-hour tariff it will not be possible to have competitive prices.”
According to Miguel Stilwell, the main reason for this average increase of 2.5% in tariffs in 2018 is the "increase in energy prices in the wholesale market by 24% in the last year," largely due to the drought and the price increase of coal.
"We have to reflect this increase in our prices. The regulated market did not reflect this increase," the manager claimed.
Even the regulator is losing patience with these games, stating in a release to newsrooms today that the energy suppliers need to be clearer about what they are charging to whom and to stop bamboozling customers with the intricacies of tarrifs, rates, components and all the other corporate speak chosen to baffle and frustrate even the most well educated and normally competent.
