The Supreme Court has annulled the 'hydraulic canon' established by the Government of Mariano Rajoy in 2015, according to the report Diario.es in a statement. With this fee, it taxed the use of water for the production of electricity, supposedly in order to address the tariff deficit, the difference between electricity system revenues and regulated costs. Six years later, the Supreme Court has annulled that charge for non-compliance with these objectives and for achieving the all-time high electricity price, which has led the Supreme to overturn it.

After the retroactive court decision, electricity companies will recover EUR 1.4 billion, tripling the initial forecasts, as announced this Monday by the Vice-President and Minister for the Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera.

Iberdrola is the most benefited company, as it is the main hydroelectric company in the Spanish State, although they will also receive the Endesa, Naturgy and Acciona award, among others. In addition to these 1.4 billion for the period 2013-2020, interest accrued in that period and, where appropriate, interest accrued in 2021 should be added.

Meanwhile, today, Wednesday, the electricity market will once again break its third consecutive historic peak, today’s one. In other words, citizens will pay the most expensive electricity in history with a new historic high of EUR 132 per megawatt hour.

The electricity companies tried at the European Court of Justice to annul the fee, which was considered an environmental tax and was guaranteed by the European Union. Now, the Supreme Court has estimated the appeal of Unesa, the water company, and has specified that this fee could not be applied if the electricity companies did not accept the modification of the concessions.

Unesa was called a few years ago Aelec. This group of employers has as secretary-general Pascual Sala Atienza, son of Pascual Sala Sánchez, former president of the Supreme Court, the General Council of the Judiciary and the Constitutional Court (TC).