Just checked European wide energy prices and net cost equals

€0.18 Spain

€0.17 uk

The 12p rate quoted above almost certainly doesn't include standing charge and VAT and as the fixed contracts expire the new rates are 15p(€0.18) plus, so very similar price spain- UK now.

I'm not sure where you checked them

The rate I have UK is 11.11p per kw inc VAT with a £5.40 per month standing charge - I took that out over the last few months

Based on 500 kw pm - £60.95

The last rate with Iberdrola (2012) was €16.77 per kw
Then you pay your meter hire €0.60 a month
Standing charge €11.01 per month

Based on 500 kw pm - £78.24

Our usage was almost always around 800 kw per month

If you have a higher potencia, then the rates are higher. Ours was 5.75. I'm guessing rates have gone up since summer 2012

As I said before, you then have to take into consideration that heating a house in winter in Spain is a lot more of a challenge than in the UK. The houses a built to keep out heat, not to to keep heat in.

I don't think any thought is given to insulation when they build some of these houses
A lot are just slabs of concrete, with no layers of insulation
You freeze or fry!

The contract you have in the uk is a good one but to get the true cost per kWh you need to build the standing charge in. If you do that with your figures the true cost per kWh is 13.2p or 16.5€.

I don't understand the Spanish billing do they charge by the kWh?

Coincidentally, I had my renewal through yesterday from SSE in the UK.

Electric 11.82 per KWh and 23.02 a day charge.
Gas 3.88 per KWH and 23.02 a day charge.

That is a 12 month contract with an exit fee of £25 for each supply, 2 year one would be a bit cheaper but I may not be in the Uk in 2 years fingers crossed.

Purely for comparison of charges :-

Gibraltar

Electricity

Meter £4.00 per month
Electric 8.80p / Kwh
FCA 4.00p / Kwh

FCA is fuel charge adjustment and allows the company to change the price of electricity without applying to the Government for an increase in charges
However it has remained at £04.00 for many years.

Therefore electric is actually 12.80p / Kwh

My last bill total was £50.98 for 367 Kwh or 13.89p /Kwh, there is no tax.

Water,
Water in Gib is made by desalination, an expensive process.

Meter £3.00 per month
Water 24.90p per 100 litres equals £2.49 per cubic meter.

My last bill total £13.21 for 41 units or 4.1 cubic meters or £3.22 per cubic meter no tax.

Please also note swimming pools require their own meter and the charges are 3 times the normal domestic rate, so rather expensive.
A recent leak returned a bill in excess of £10,000

Yes, but then my Spanish account charges would (a) increase when I built in the standing charge also (thats why I put them both separately) and (b) those are Spanish 2012 rates, two years increases to go on that against up to date UK.

Yes, they charge per kw, just like the UK, but you can choose your potencia, depending on what your requirements are ... a higher potencia = higher kw charges iirc.

I'm afraid you have to factor in standing charge when comparing energy cost's. If you are a small user it increases your cost per kWh. If you are large user it dilutes the cost.

I need to investigate current prices when I'm over in a few weeks

You misunderstand I think. I purposely showed the standing charges separately. They are similar for Spain and the UK. If you factor them in to the rate per kw they will make almost the same increase to the rates per kw Spain or UK, confirming that based on Spanish 2012 rates, the UK is still cheaper now than Spain was 2 years ago, and we haven't factored in the Cavity Wall issue yet