The Iberian energy exception: an overview of its effects over its first 100 days

This paper offers an independent assessment of certain economic effects of the Iberian Exception which was introduced in June 2022 by the Spanish and Portuguese governments. Their stated aim was to reduce wholesale spot electricity prices–which were rising alarmingly due to tight international gas markets related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine–and thereby reduce retail electricity prices for consumers whose prices were linked to that wholesale market. Another aim was to reduce Spanish inflation, which was linked to a regulated electricity retail price indexed to the wholesale spot market.