I pay 9 euros but that's for 7.5 amps

You apparently don't have an oven or a wash machine. Or you've wired around your ICP, which is what most do...

Got a washer 40 degree washes max though, but I am totally legal.I've a feeling it's safer insurance wise.Gas for water and cooker.

I question how it's somehow justifiable that people should be forced to live like third-world in the interest of assuring minimal competition and maximising profitability of the energy cartel...

OK, if you choose that path, that's your decision. But to be mandated, well, that's another horse...

That all changes when the new meters are installed - no way round the ICP then.

It would be fairly easy for me Fred they put new meters in the entrance hall a few weeks ago,and my ICP is in the apartment.It would mean "working live" though,and why anybody would risk their insurance being voided is beyond me.And God forbid anybody did it and it started an electrical fire which ended up in a fatality.

We have one of those new digital meters that acts as the ICP They put it in when the old meter went bad. €240 in charges. Silly me, I thought the standing charges covered things like maintenance (like in the first world). But no, apparently, it's just free money for them.

Oddly enough, I still pay 10c per day "rental" of the (now wholly useless) ICP I purchased outright for almost €300 about 5 years ago.

One of the benefits of the whole ridiculous ICP fiasco, I reckon. They made a bundle installing them, and still make a bundle even after they're obsolete. Apparently, endesa is also in the currency exchange business (exchanging it from mine to theirs).

Damned good lobbyists, that bunch. Again, one would believe this ridiculous solar taxing scheme which puts wads of more free money into endesa's pocket would have about the same chance as an ice cube in hell. But maybe not... Damn good lobbyists, this bunch.

Presumably if the meters are "smart" they would already be measuring the current drawn so what you did after the meter would make no difference

One would expect.....

... That if the objective is to create tariffs based on actual consumption...

... that actual consumption would be the metric by which the tariff would be determined...

But the ICP genius controls consumption not on the basis of consumption, but on the basis of the maximum drawn at any one second.., not what you consume...

... for example, you might normally use less than than 200 watts of power on the lowest tariff... But if you run the wash machine at the same time as the oven.. Whoosh! Shutdown. ...

That has nothing to do with average consumption. It has to do with what you use at any given moment, not what you actually consume, which places the burden in the consumer to avoid exceeding your contract at any given moment, not as a lifestyle...

So, if you simply want to use the oven at the same time you use the wash machine, you have to sign up for the higher tariff, or else you will be cut off. But you may never consume anywhere near the same amount as someone who irresponsibly leaves their lights on all the time...

If the goal were to set tariffs based on consumption, then it would be a simple computer algorithm to determine consumption based in meter readings. No need to charge consumers a fortune for a stupid, useless ICP that doesn't measure consumption at all.

Add to that the standing charges, charges for maintenance, charges for whatever... Not exactly "consumer friendly"... In fact, I am now convinced it's the last remaining government-complicit ripoff in Spain.

I suppose it would depend on how smart they are, how they are calibrated,and how well they are monitored.If it's to the usual Valencian standards.My apartment was built in the 60's so the wiring is although in good condition only really safe to handle 10 amps max,so I'm more than happy to leave the situation as is.

Indeed Dave, I'm very familiar with the Valencian standards, it would appear one of the common requirements for electricians was to be colour blind

The new 'smart' meters already incorporate an ICP facility so you shouldn't have another in your flat.

When they recently installed my new "SMART" meter I would not have known it was done had I not just been going out and seen the electrical contractors van just leaving. So this means if the meter has an ICP we have two since one was installed in the Casa when the house was built.
Even though I have a 10.3 KW three phase supply when we had a house full (8) last week last week the visitors still managed to trip the ICP at the first breakfast! Interesting it is always the internal ICP that trips!

The ICP was installed a couple of years ago when everybody else was having to do it.The new meters materialised a few weeks ago,the first clue was when I arrived home and my neighbor asked me on the stairs if my power was off.When we checked the cupboard in the entrance like magic they were there.No notice give......you know just in case you might have been doing something important that needed uninterrupted power.Anyway now it looks like I have double cover!