Households in the metropolitan area already allocate on average more than 6% of their income to pay electricity and gas rates, the highest level in 30 years, according to private consulting firms.
The report was prepared by the consulting firms Economía & Energía, and PxQ.
The main reason is the decline in salaries measured in dollars, which in the first half of 2024 were at the lowest value in the last 20 years.
The average expenditure on electricity and natural gas of Level 1 users was 4.1% in March with respect to the RIPTE salary and in just 3 months it rose to 6.4%.
In the case of low-income users (Level 2) in the same period it went from 1.5% to 4.1%, while for middle-income users (Level 3) it increased from 1.5% to 4. 8%.
If we take only the expense destined to face an average natural gas bill, it can be seen that the current 3.1% with respect to the RIPTE constitutes the highest percentage in the entire historical series, surpassing the period from January 2018 to December 2019 when it averaged 2.7%, with a peak close to the current one at the end of 2018.
The current average value is one percentage point above the average for the 1990s.
In electricity, the average expense in June is equivalent to 2% of the RIPTE salary, below the 2.6% that averaged between July 1994 and May 2003 and the 2.1% reached between January 2018 and December 2019.
When disaggregated by category, it can be seen that Level 1 users currently allocate 3.1% of the RIPTE salary, a record in the historical series.
Level 2 users pay the equivalent of 1.2% of the RIPTE salary and Level 3 users pay 1.7%.
