The Secretary of State for Energy, Fabrizio Hernández, has been given a challenge: to auction off 7 billion euros in bonds that originate from déficit tarifario, the difference between what Spanish consumers pay for energy such as electricity and gas and the real cost imposed by regulators.
This difference is vast when companies take on some of the costs, but the Spanish government will need to auction off bonds in order to comply with their promise to partially subsidize the companies.
The electric companies have given Hernández a twelve-month period to provide the funds, which total more than 13 billion euros and twice the amount that the companies have received so far.
During his speech at the New Economy forum, Hernández explained that the electric companies´ approval of the déficit tarifario came through on July 7 and that before this happened, the manager of Titulización de Activos (a Spanish asset securitization organization) asked the electric companies to restructure these debt transfers and extend them for exactly one year.
"That?s the way they?ve done it," Hernández said about the companies. This comment shows his confidence in idea of auctioning off the debt to the public markets. EP, a Spanish newswire agency, reported that he is pleased with the progress so far. "The shares are being securitized successfully," he assured after mentioning four placements that have already been completed.
