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Spain, on the other hand, has pressed for a faster transition to renewable energy so that the continent does not suffer the ups and downs of the gas market forever. “The present and the future belong to renewable energies, and we cannot solve a crisis precisely caused by dependence on fossil fuels by looking at the past,” Teresa Ribera, deputy prime minister and longtime climate advocate, said in an email. “The Spanish government believes that the transition should be accelerated, not slowed down.”
Tim Gore of the Brussels-based European Environmental Policy Institute, a research group, described the price hikes for electricity as a “perfect storm”. Global demand for gas rose sharply as winds waned in Northern Europe (where there is significant wind power) and gas reserves dwindled over a long, locked-in winter. Added to the mix is the closure of coal-fired power stations, largely in Western Europe.
“The fact that the EU manages to remove so much coal from the power grid actually makes things worse,” Gore said. “It’s a good thing, but unfortunately it conflicted with everything else.”
The humanitarian consequences are unfolding in the 7th-floor apartment of Ascención García López, a working-class suburb of Madrid, with electricity prices rising sharply, sparking some protests on the streets.
Ms. López’s electricity bills have nearly doubled since last year, forcing her to change her habits. He keeps his shutters open until sundown so that the last rays of the sun can illuminate the rooms. Instead of boiling his stews for better flavor, he cooks them in a pressure cooker. She does the laundry in the afternoons when electricity prices are cheaper, but fears that her neighbors will complain because it’s a mid-afternoon siesta in Madrid.
Currently unemployed and responsible for caring for her two young grandchildren and her elderly mother, Ms. López, 56, has yet to turn on the heater. Winter worries him. “I will only use this on the coldest days, not every day,” she said.
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