Severe drought in Lake Powell could impact energy 0:52
(CNN Spanish) -
Europe is preparing for the harsh winter that is coming due to large jumps in energy costs.
In the US, the drought on Lake Powell, on the Colorado River, threatens to leave millions of people without power due to its effects on the Glenn Canyon Dam.
Europe is paying record prices for energy: a winter crisis is coming
In August, Tropical Storm Henri left hundreds of thousands of people without power in the eastern United States amid a hyperactive hurricane season.
And in February an unexpected winter wave in Texas, United States, led to the collapse of the electrical system due to the unusual demand for heating: millions were left with electricity.
In a world increasingly affected by climate change, which are the countries with the highest electricity rates, an input so essential for modern life and so closely related - because of its production - to rising temperatures?
And which ones have the lowest rates?
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Europeans at the top
European countries are at the top of the list in rates for domestic use, measured in US $ per kWh (kilowatt hour), and the situation appears to be worse due to an unusually cold spring.
According to 2020 data published by Eurostat, the statistics office of the European Union, Germany has the most expensive kWh in Europe, at a cost of US $ 0.35.
Such a rate is only surpassed in the world by that of small island countries such as the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Micronesia, affected by the long distances and limited access of the population to the electricity grid.
The price of electricity has been rising in Germany especially since the decision was made, after the Fukushima disaster in 2011, to decommission its nuclear power plants.
Risk of blackouts in California due to the heat wave 0:53
Denmark, Belgium, Ireland and Italy also have high costs for their electricity, but there are not only Europeans on the list of the most onerous tariffs.
Uruguay and Nicaragua, in Latin America, register the highest prices for the region, of US $ 0.23 US $ 0.33 respectively, according to 2018 data from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and 2019 from the World Bank.
Oil tankers, among the countries with the lowest rates
At the other end of the global electricity tariff table are the large oil-producing countries, especially those in the Middle East such as Oman (US $ 0.06 / kWh), Iraq (US $ 0.085 / kWh) and Kuwait (US $ 0.007 / kWh). kWh), according to the World Bank, as well as others in Central Asia such as Iran (US $ 0.052 / kWh) and Azerbaijan (US $ 0.048 / kWh).
This technology could limit the cost of electricity 4:44
Also among the countries with the lowest tariffs are Venezuela, owner of one of the largest oil reserves in the world, and Cuba, which receives subsidized oil from Venezuela.
There the prices are US $ 0.002 / kWh and US $ 0.008 / kWh, the lowest on record, according to GlobalPetrolPrices (2020 data) and the Mexican Center for International Relations (2019 data).
Although they have the lowest electricity rates in the world, Venezuela and Cuba face numerous blackouts due to their weakened energy infrastructure.
And what about countries like Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Peru?
In these countries, electricity rates are also relatively low, around US $ 0.070 / kWh, US $ 0.082 / kWh, US $ 0.122 / kWh, US $ 0.046 / kWh and US $ 0.165 / kWh, respectively, based on to ECLAC data.
Electricity
