Basque steel companies face a 70% surcharge on their electricity bills
Industry & EmploymentSpain
- Omissions
- The 70% surcharge is specific to a single month (October 2026) and is attributed to a temporary spike in gas prices caused by the war in Iran, not to a permanent or structural increase in Basque steelmakers' electricity costs.
- The exact 70% figure appears only in one independent secondary source (Diario Vasco, the same day as the session); it is not corroborated by an independent primary source. The Unesid association and the Basque Government publish related but different metrics (€658 million surcharge for the whole Spanish steel sector in 2026; Basque industrial electricity costs up to 165% higher than in France and 35% higher than in Germany).
- The MEP's phrasing ('afrontan un sobrecoste del 70%') presents the figure as a current general condition, whereas the source frames it as a cost for the specific month reported.
- Sources
- PrimaryGobierno Vasco (Basque Government) - euskadi.eusThe Basque Government proposes to the Spanish Government a review of distortions that raise energy prices and limit industry competitiveness: 'Los costes eléctricos para la industria vasca pueden llegar a ser un 165% más caros que en Francia y un 35% más que Alemania.'
- SecondaryDiario VascoHeadline: 'Las empresas siderúrgicas vascas afrontarán este mes un sobrecoste del 70% en su factura eléctrica. La escalada del gas por la guerra en Irán...' Body: 'La cifra supone un incremento del 71% respecto a los 874.000 euros del mismo mes del año pasado y añade así más de 600.000 euros al coste...' Also: 'El Gobierno Vasco ha advertido de que los costes eléctricos que afrontan las empresas industriales pueden ser hasta un 165% superiores a los de [Francia]'.
- SecondaryUnesid (Unión de Empresas Siderúrgicas) via IndustryTalksUNESID estimates a provisional energy surcharge of around €658 million for the Spanish steel industry between March and [end of] 2026, and notes the cost of adjustment services on the electricity bill of steel companies will be around €20/MWh during 2026, a disadvantage especially burdensome for Spanish steelmaking.