Energy Guides for Austria

How the Austrian electricity market is structured

Three actors decide what shows up on your bill: the supplier (who sells you the kilowatt-hours), the grid operator (network company tied to your address — Wiener Netze in Vienna, Netz NÖ in Lower Austria, and so on) and the state, through taxes and levies. You can switch the supplier; the grid operator is fixed by where you live.

On the invoice this turns into roughly three slices: the energy price (about a third), grid charges (another third) and taxes plus the green-energy levy (the final third). When you switch supplier, only the energy slice changes — grid charges are the same for everyone at your address.

Gas works the same way: free choice of supplier, location-bound distribution operator. Both markets sit under one regulator, E-Control, an independent federal authority.

What changed for Austrian households in 2026

How a provider switch actually works

Three steps cover almost every case. First, check last year's consumption in kWh from your annual statement. Second, run the numbers in the E-Control calculator or pick a tariff directly with a supplier. Third, sign the new contract online — your new supplier handles the cancellation with your old one for you.

Start to finish takes between two and six weeks. There is no service interruption: physically the same electricity keeps flowing through the same wires, only the billing party changes. Notice periods are typically two weeks or one month to month-end.

Frequently asked questions