Switching electricity providers in Spain: PVPC, fixed price and adjusting contracted power

If you want to switch electricity provider in Spain, you'll first come up against a basic question that doesn't exist in Germany in quite the same way: are you on the regulated PVPC tariff, or on the free market with a freely negotiated, possibly fixed price? This decision is directly linked to a second question that many households on Mallorca underestimate – the contractually agreed power (potencia contratada). This guide explains in plain terms who is actually allowed to choose PVPC, how fixed-price offers on the free market differ from it, which official tool you can use to find the cheapest hours of the day, and – very practically – how to have the contracted power adjusted without having to deal with the network operator yourself.

Not sure whether PVPC or a fixed price suits your household?

• Submit a personal enquiry — we'll put you in touch with the right contacts
• Find an electrician for the Boletín check — specialist firms near you

The two worlds: regulated or free

In Spain, almost all private electricity contracts run through a comercializadora, i.e. a distribution/marketing company. It issues the bill, buys the energy on behalf of its customers and, if requested, handles all dealings with the network operator (distribuidor) – this explicitly includes increasing or reducing the contractually agreed power. Within this system there are two fundamentally different pricing worlds:

• PVPC (Precio Voluntario para el Pequeño Consumidor): a regulated tariff offered exclusively through a so-called comercializador de referencia.
• Free market: here you negotiate the price formula freely with a marketing company of your choice – including genuine fixed-price offers.

The article deliberately makes no statement about which model is cheaper in any given case. That depends on the individual consumption profile, not on a blanket rule.

Note: Whether PVPC or a fixed price on the free market works out cheaper cannot be answered in a blanket way – it depends on your consumption habits and the specific offers available to you.

The entry ticket to PVPC: low voltage and 10 kW

According to CNMC, PVPC is only available to households that meet two conditions simultaneously: they are connected to the low-voltage network, and their contractually agreed power does not exceed 10 kW. Anyone who has booked more power – for example for a large finca with several air-conditioning units, a pool pump and a sauna – simply cannot choose PVPC, regardless of whether they want to.

That makes the question of power the actual starting point of any tariff decision: before deciding between PVPC and a fixed price, it's worth taking a look at the power currently booked on your bill.

You'll find basic information on the initial registration and on choosing the power level when moving in in the guide Registering electricity in Spain.

Why the time of day matters

With PVPC, both the price for power and the price for energy are time-dependent – they vary according to the time at which the consumption takes place. For households that don't keep an eye on this, it can lead to bills that seem hard to make sense of.

CNMC offers its own tool for this: an hourly traffic-light service, which shows PVPC customers which eight hours of the day have the most expensive energy (marked in red) and which have the cheapest (marked in green). Anyone who shifts their washing machine, dishwasher or charging sessions into the green hours makes use of the tariff's structure without having to switch provider.

Attention: Specific times of day or weekday grids for the time slots (punta, llano, valle) are not officially verified here and are therefore deliberately not stated. What is reliable is the traffic light directly via the CNMC tool, not a blanket rule of thumb.

The QR code on the bill: the official comparison calculator

The most practically valuable point in this guide is unassuming and appears on every Spanish electricity bill: a QR code. It leads to the Comparador of the CNMC, a tool that helps consumers clearly compare the available offers for their own consumption profile.

The decisive advantage: if you scan the QR code on your bill (or follow the link in the consumer information section of your electronic bill), the Comparador automatically loads your own consumption data – you don't have to enter it manually, and no data is shared with a third-party comparison portal.

Adjusting capacity: the right contact

A common misunderstanding: many households believe they need to contact the grid operator (distribuidor) directly to change their contracted capacity. In fact, according to the CNMC, it is your own comercializadora that is responsible – it handles the increase or decrease of capacity with the grid operator in the background.

1. Have your current electricity bill ready (it shows the currently booked capacity).
2. Contact the comercializadora and state the desired new capacity.
3. The comercializadora takes care of coordination with the distribuidor.
4. For structural changes, an electrician can check the Boletín in advance – you can find specialist firms in the Home, Garden & Services Directory.

Note: A capacity set too high causes permanently higher fixed costs, while a capacity set too low means the circuit breaker will trip when exceeded. How often the capacity may be changed is not officially regulated here, and therefore no figure can be given.

Anyone also considering an electric car or larger charging infrastructure should reassess the capacity question anyway – more on this in the guide E-Auto laden Mallorca.

Most common mistakes

• Assuming that the PVPC is available to everyone.Without low voltage and a capacity of no more than 10 kW, access is simply not possible.
• Blanket assumption that a fixed price is always cheaper (or always more expensive) than the PVPC.Neither can seriously be claimed without checking your own consumption profile.
• Using comparison portals without reference to your own consumption, even though the official Comparador from the CNMC automatically loads your own data via the QR code on the invoice.
• Calling the network operator (distribuidor) to change the contracted capacity – the responsible party is your own comercializadora.
• Ignoring the time-dependency of the PVPC, even though the CNMC's hourly traffic light system shows exactly when consumption is expensive or cheap.

Checklist before switching

• Current invoice at hand, including the contractually agreed capacity.
• Checked whether low voltage and a maximum of 10 kW apply (prerequisite for PVPC).
• Scanned the QR code on the invoice and opened the CNMC's Comparador with your own consumption data.
• Compared offers from the free market and PVPC, without assuming a general superiority of either model.
• If needed: requested a capacity change directly from your own comercializadora.
• In case of doubts about the suitability of the electrical installation: contacted an electrician for the Boletín check.

What comes next?

After switching or adjusting, it's worth regularly checking the CNMC's hourly traffic light system to shift consumption further into cheaper hours. For households considering their own electricity generation, that's a separate topic with its own rules – a first introduction can be found in the guide Registering photovoltaics in Mallorca. For certain households, there is also a regulated discount on the electricity bill – you should ask the responsible authority directly for details and requirements, as these have not been examined in detail here.

Conclusion

Switching electricity providers in Spain doesn't start with a price comparison, but with two simple questions: How high is my contractually agreed capacity, and am I below or above 10 kW? This determines whether the regulated PVPC is even an option, or whether only the free market with its freely negotiated prices – including fixed-price offers – is available. The official Comparador from the CNMC, accessible via the QR code on your own invoice, makes the comparison easier than most households assume. And for adjusting the capacity itself, the right contact is not the network operator, but your own comercializadora.

Official sources

• CNMC — Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia, "Comercialización y suministro eléctrico": https://www.cnmc.es/node/406175