Transparency versus efficiency in the MIBEL market

In the beginning of the Iberian Electricity Market (MIBEL), in 2006, the Portuguese regulator created a new tariff scheme, aiming at responding to the new market competition environment. At the same time, the regulator intended to improve consumers' awareness and incentivize renewables generation. After one decade, this policy may be considered successful, as it led to a good level of transparency (all tariff costs are clear and public) and renewables production had increased considerably. However, this strategy has brought other less positive aspects. One of them is the attractiveness of the tariff system in terms of energy savings. In fact, the test cases present in this article demonstrate that the current tariff scheme does not stimulate energy efficiency. Other complementary studies are performed to illustrate the impact of the tariff structure design on the potential energy savings.