Farmers face the impending season of irrigation with 60% of recharge on your electric bill
on March 28, 2011
Faced with this situation, the three organizations called way reiterated to the Government to publish on an urgent basis Decree on flexible season contracts, negotiated with the sector during the last summer. In the context of these negotiations closed a draft on contracts for the season coming to mitigate the comparative tort claim irrigators with respect to other users for their low rates of utilization of electricity throughout the year (14 per cent in high-voltage) and 7% in low voltagewhich makes the term of power have a weight disproportionate with respect to other users. In this way, the final price of the kw per hour for the farmer is very relevant to the income statement and cost unattainable.
"In this context it is difficult to understand that a decree with the approval of the ministries of Rural Environment and industry take paralyzed more than 9 months", said in the press release. In this sense, these agricultural organizations claimed "for active and passive" to the Minister of environment, Rural and marine (MARM), Rosa Aguilar, lead and expedite the process so that the irrigators may reduce the fixed costs of the Bill in the new campaign.
The UPA and Coag remember that Spanish irrigation sector is in a very delicate position since the demise of the special rate for irrigation with the liberalisation of the market of the electric power in mid-2008. Previously, the special rate for the sector kept energy costs at reasonable levels, core issue to ensure the viability of investments in modernization and restructuring of the irrigation systems. All actors of the sector agree that the supposed benefits of the liberalisation of the electricity market have not reached the field.
Irrigation systems and renewable energy
Spanish dependence on external energy sources "makes us extremely vulnerable to swings in the price of oil and gas in the next few years." "A really worrying scenario with an electric bill looms increasingly higher that threatens in a clear and notable the viability of the Spanish irrigation", continued these groupings.
To resolve this problem, Coag, UPA and cooperatives have been proposed to the involved ministries to give legal protection to the renewable energy production for own consumption based on a system of net balance of production and consumption of energy (Net-Metering) very developed in countries such as United StatesJapan, Italy, Denmark, Germany or Australia.
