Royal Decree-Law 7/2024 sets out emergency energy measures for those affected by the DANA: contract flexibility, cost-free suspension and supply guarantees.
Royal Decree-Law 7/2024 of 11 November came into force on 12 November, setting out emergency measures to address the damage caused by the DANA storm between 28 October and 4 November 2024. The most relevant energy measures are set out below.
Measures on electricity supply
- Contract flexibility
Until 31 December 2025, affected consumers may flexibly adjust or temporarily suspend their electricity supply contracts at no cost. This includes:
- Suspending or modifying contracts without penalty.
- Capacity changes processed without the usual waiting periods, regardless of whether the consumer changed the technical terms of their access contract in the previous 12 months.
- Consumers may request reactivation of contracts at no cost after the suspension period, unless greater capacity or a review of the metering equipment is required.
- Temporary suspension of contracts
Contracts and network access may be temporarily suspended for affected supply points, at no cost. Reactivation takes place once conditions are safe again.
- Supply guarantee
Protection is extended to vulnerable consumers, allowing supply to continue even in the event of non-payment. Electricity, petroleum products (including manufactured gases and liquefied petroleum gas), natural gas and water may not be cut off to individual consumers at their primary residence where that residence is in one of the municipalities listed in the annex to Royal Decree-Law 6/2024. Supply may only be suspended for reasons of personal or installation safety.
- Deferred payments
Consumers may request suspension of bill payments until 31 December 2025. Suppliers are responsible for notifying the distributor of the supply point holders, and associated CUPS codes, that have requested payment suspension. Electricity suppliers are exempt from paying transmission and distribution network access charges and electricity system charges corresponding to deferred bills. They are also exempt from settling VAT, where applicable, on bills whose payment has been suspended under this measure — until the bill is paid in full or six months have elapsed since the decree-law came into force. Outstanding amounts are settled over six months, and consumers may not switch supplier until payment is complete.
Measures on natural gas supply
- Contract flexibility
Consumers may adjust their contracts without additional cost until 31 December 2025, including:
- Modifying contracted daily flow up to three times.
- Changing the applicable charge band.
- Adjustments do not affect 2025 and 2026 reallocations and rebilling, unless the consumer requests otherwise.
- Suppliers must give at least three days' notice before these measures end.
- Cost-free temporary suspension
Suspension of gas contracts is purely administrative — no disconnection and no additional charges. During suspension, the supply point holder is charged nothing for the fixed term, maintenance contract, adjustments, inspections, connection rights or meter rental. Reactivation is automatic or on request, with no connection charge.
- Supply guarantee
Supply to vulnerable consumers is guaranteed, with disconnection possible only on safety grounds.
- Deferred bills
Consumers may defer bill payment into 2025, with settlement in 2026, limited to consumption equal to or below the previous year. Once the period ends, outstanding amounts are settled in equal parts across the bills issued over the following twelve months. Suppliers cannot be changed while payments remain outstanding. Unlike the electricity provisions, the gas measures do not specify that the supplier is exempt from network charges or VAT on bills whose payment the customer has suspended.
How it is processed
E-Distribución has already communicated the operational procedure:
Temporary suspension and subsequent reactivation are processed through the existing CNMC-defined deregistration (B1-01) and registration (A3) movements.
The capacity changes referred to in the article are processed through the existing CNMC-defined modification movement (M1-N).
To correctly identify the CUPS codes affected, the PDF of RDL 7/2024 as published in the Official State Gazette must be submitted to the URL defined in the inter-agent communication formats for contracting movements, classified under value "06.- Invoices" in table "61.- Documentation types" defined by the CNMC. This classification, not normally used in contracting movements, may exceptionally and unambiguously be used for these purposes while the decree remains in force. In any case, failure to attach the supporting documentation will not result in the movement being rejected.
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